The Contractors by Harry Hunsicker

Government runs on the services of contractors.  They are easy to hire, and when the time comes, easy to get rid of.  Most people have heard of military contractors like the Blackwater company.  A less widely known fact is that other government agencies like the DEA use contractors also in their war on drugs and the drug cartels.

Jon Cantrell fits the profile of a DEA contractor.  He's a former disgraced cop and he and his girlfriend, Piper, work for a company that hires out expertise for catching drug runners and the higher ups in the organizations.  While Jon doesn't work for the police anymore, he still has the ideals that caused him to join law enforcement in the first place.  He wants to make the world safer while also making a living.

Jon and Piper's newest assignment may make the world safer, but not their world.  They are charged with getting the hottest witness against the drug cartels to safety where the trial will occur.  She can testify against the number two man in the cartel.  He happens to be her husband.  There are many groups that want to keep Jon and Piper from fulfilling their mission.  There are competing drug cartels, each determined to kill the witness before she can testify.  There are opposing contractor groups who want the mission themselves, or at least to prevent Cantrell's group from being successful.  There are shadowy alliances of current and former police and drug agents, each with their own agendas.  Against these odds, there seems little chance of Jon and Piper being successful.

Harry Hunsicker has written a fast-paced thriller that grabs the reader and drags them along on a frantic ride along a path with ever changing loyalties and plans.  Betrayals and counter-betrayals are common, and the path to success is cunningly hidden.  Hunsicker is a former executive vice president of the Mystery Writers of America and his book flies toward an exciting conclusion.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.