Come Barbarians

by Todd Babiak,

"Christopher Kruse has moved to the south of France with his wife and daughter to become a better man—to escape his past as a high-priced security agent and his guilt over old wrongs. But after a harrowing accident, he finds himself drawn into a web of political gamesmanship and murder. When his wife disappears, Kruse must draw on his old instincts to find her, ahead of the police and two sinister members of a Corsican crime family. His desperate search leads him closer to his wife, and deeper into the dangerous machinations of the most powerful leaders in the country".

Kruse and his wife have moved to France.  His wife is working as a pr person for a very conservative French political party.  At a party for a local candidate their daughter is tragically killed by the candidate himself who hits her with his car.   His wife is distraught and goes to see the candidate.   His wife does not return and shortly after the candidate and his wife are found murdered in their home.  Kruse proceeds to try to find his wife and prove her innocent of the murders.  He gets some assistance from the local police officer but suddenly the police officer is forced into retirement. 

Kruse keeps trying to find his wife and makes contact with other police who seem to want to help him but really want to use him to find his wife.  His wife is brutally murdered but he keeps going to find out the truth, that the candidate was drugged by people who wanted to stop him from being elected.  The physical training he received from his partner in his security company saves his life on numerous occasions.

The book was an interesting thriller but I found the graphic violence very unpleasant, especially since the last few books I have read have all had elements of imprisonment and torture in them.  I would have enjoyed the book better if there had not been such graphic violence.