The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens

Alexander Rupert, a Minnesota detective and Medal of Valor winner, is under subpoena by a grand jury on suspicion of corruption. Reassigned to the Frauds Unit, he is shunned by his fellow detectives, and he fears his wife may be having an affair. When he happens across a complex case of identity theft, Rupert sees an opportunity to rehabilitate his tattered reputation. But the case puts him in the path of trained assassin Drago Basta, who has been searching for "James Putnam" for years.

After reading “The Life We Bury,” I was looking forward to reading another book by this author. During the first 3/4ths of the book, I thought that the plot was predictable and the story was so-so. The final 1/4th turned things around and surprised me, which I really enjoyed. Looking forward to reading more by this author and recommend to readers who enjoy mystery/thrillers.

This is loosely connected to [b:The Life We Bury 20758175 The Life We Bury (Joe Talbert, #1; Max Rupert, #1) Allen Eskens https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437077793l/20758175.SY75.jpg 40090621] but you're like me, a stickler for recurring characters and timelines, this is BK.2 in the Det. Max Rupert & Joe Talbert series. So far when it comes to these books the word series can be seen as a suggestion. Det. Alexander Rupert, who briefly appeared in a heroic role in the first book, gets the full treatment here. It turns out that like most humans Alexander is more than one thing: an up and coming brilliant and ambitious detective and a deeply flawed individual. Both of these qualities are on full display here leading him from professional highs and personal lows. He also makes some pretty dumb, fatal mistakes while thinking with his little head. There's a mystery, femme fatales, and a cast of villains straight out of central casting. The AB by [a:Jonathan Yen 7237123 Jonathan Yen https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] gets the job done and I had a good time. I won't miss any of the main characters.Luckily I feel like both of these books were a long introduction to Det. Max Rupert. Here and in the first book he played a tangential role but we're left with the impression of a loyal, stand-up guy with a tragic story that only got worse here that I'm looking forward to exploring in the next books.