The Bitter Past, Borgos - B+

                      This novel is a well-done mystery/thriller set in northern Nevada in one of the least populated counties in the US. Just west of Lincoln County was the test range for the US nuclear bomb program in the 1950's. A great many people died as a direct result of the tests and as well as many over the passing decades because of their exposure to carcinogens. A specific test in 1957 is part of the background of our story. The county sheriff, Porter Beck, is a native of the area, a combat vet from Iraq, and who also spent five years in the Army's counter intelligence operation in Moscow. The murder of an elderly FBI retiree leads to an investigation by Beck and a high level female agent from DC. Two FSB agents are in the US tracking down elderly Nevadans who may have been a double agents in the fifties. It's fast paced, fun and has a plot line that gets your attention ( if you can excuse some over the twists and turns at the end).