Vile Means — Steve Dimodica

It's 1999. The United States, a long time benefactor to Panama, is scheduled to return the canal to the republic at the end of the year, so stability in the Central American country is paramount. But a wealthy Swiss financier and an Israeli Mossad officer have compelling reasons to destabilize the tiny isthmus nation. In an intricate plot, they enlist the help of a Bosnian war criminal, who leads a series of attacks against defenseless jungle villages to help create fear and uncertainty. Simultaneously, there are massive transfers of money and international currency that pique the interest of Interpol investigators and sound alarm bells in Washington. A covert team of operatives is assembled. Under CIA Case Officer Jessica Flekk, the teams' mission is to determine the purpose of the sudden insurrection in Panama and to ferret out the perpetrators. It quickly becomes apparent to Jessica that she is a bit player in a very large geopolitical game. Her team is expendable, and the tiny Republic of Panama is merely a conduit for major espionage activities between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Beijing. The final, shocking revelations force Flekk and her team to confront difficult decisions in a world of ambiguity.