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Capital Crimes #30
Allied in Danger
PI Robert Brixton is back in Margaret Truman's Allied in Danger, Donald Bain's next installment in the New York Times bestselling Capital Crimes series
David Portland works security for America’s British Embassy in London. His life is upended when his son Trevor dies mysteriously in Nigeria, while employed by a suspicious security/mercenary company known as SureSafe. One night, Portland sees a man in a bar wearing a bracelet—a family heirloom, which he had given his son—and attacks the man. The information he learns will send Portland down a rabbit-hole of deadly deception—one which he hopes will lead him to the truth about his son’s death.
Meanwhile, Robert Brixton, a noted Washington DC-based international investigator, has been hired to look into a fraudulent charity and a criminal warlord in Nigeria. His life and his investigations will soon become intertwined with Portland’s probe and that of his estranged, ex-wife, Elizabeth. Their interconnected cases will take Brixton to Nigeria, into that country’s Heart of Darkness and on one of the most violent and dangerous journeys of his life.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
377 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2018
136 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Donald Bain
147 books177 followersFrom Wikipedia: Donald Bain (1935-2017) was a United States author and ghostwriter.
Author Jack Pearl is his cousin and sometime co-author.
Known Pseudonyms:
Jessica Fletcher
Joan Wood
J.D. Hardin
Nick Vasile
Mike Lundy
Pamela South
Lee Jackson
Stephanie Blake
Marjorie Margolies
Kathy Cole
Donna Bain
Author Jack Pearl is his cousin and sometime co-author.
Known Pseudonyms:
Jessica Fletcher
Joan Wood
J.D. Hardin
Nick Vasile
Mike Lundy
Pamela South
Lee Jackson
Stephanie Blake
Marjorie Margolies
Kathy Cole
Donna Bain
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 12, 2018
Donald Bain is back with another instalment of the long-running Capital Crimes series. Straddling a legal and mystery genre here, Bain takes the reader on an interesting journey through the world of illicit money schemes. Mac Smith has just agreed to help a new client, whose father was taken in by a Nigerian money scheme, sending his life savings into the African country, before killing himself when he went broke. Smith, unsure if he will be able to help, brings his investigator into the case, in hopes of assisting. Robert Brixton can see this will be an uphill battle, but is always up for a challenge. Brixton turns to a friend of his at the British Embassy, David Portland, who also has an interest in Nigeria, though not for the same reasons. Portland’s son has been over in the country and may have been killed while working for a security company, SureSafe. However, Portland cannot learn anything for sure, until a family heirloom is found on a Nigerian back in D.C. Portland begins to uncover that his son may have died at the hands of a Frenchman who heads up security firm, closely allied with a warlord, whose enterprises include money schemes directed towards the gullible. Armed with a passion to bring justice for his son, Portland and Brixton pool their resources and impetus to head onto the African continent for some answers, though someone lurking in the shadows wants to ensure they end up empty handed and perhaps worse. What may have started out as a simple legal remedy to help a man duped out of his life savings has become a life and death mission for family honour. Trouble is, no one is willing to stick out their heads to help, worried it may be the last thing they do. Bain has pulled another winner out in this series, whose focus has shifted from the strong legal novels to something more focussed on investigation and mystery. Recommended for those who have followed this series for its lengthy run as well as the curious reader who wants a glimpse into the political and social situation of Nigeria.
I have been reading the Capital Crimes series since I discovered Margaret Truman many years ago. That it has reached thirty novels may surprise some, but its ability to morph and keep the reader’s attention speaks volumes to its longevity. Robert Brixton, the creation of Donald Bain when he formally took over the series, is a fabulously developed character. His tough exterior helps push the story along, with grit to get to the heart of the matter. However, the softer side as he still mourns the death of his daughter, pushes through and makes the character more compassionate and worthy of attention. While he may play a minor role in the last few novels, series regular and former protagonist Mac Smith is always a pleasure to see on the page. His anchored approach seeks to allow the law to do battle rather than devious behaviour, but he has a way about him that keeps the reader from rolling their eyes. With a narrative that pushes along and keeps the story fresh, Bain does wonderful things by educating the reader about many of the nuances of Nigeria and some of the vast differences with North American life, which provides a rich plot. Bain shows a dedication to the backstory and weaves it together effectively through a mix of short and longer chapters. The reader cannot get enough as they seek to learn which twists will influence the larger story and which are dead ends to entertain. Bain has kept Truman’s series alive with his own flavour and left series fans fairly impressed. Sadly, with his death, I suppose this is the last instalment in a long-running and highly energetic series.
Kudos, Mr. Bain, for keeping the spirit of Margaret Truman alive. She would be proud with your effort and I know fans of the novels are sure to applaud this effort. I thank you for all the work you did on this series and that you may now rest in peace.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
I have been reading the Capital Crimes series since I discovered Margaret Truman many years ago. That it has reached thirty novels may surprise some, but its ability to morph and keep the reader’s attention speaks volumes to its longevity. Robert Brixton, the creation of Donald Bain when he formally took over the series, is a fabulously developed character. His tough exterior helps push the story along, with grit to get to the heart of the matter. However, the softer side as he still mourns the death of his daughter, pushes through and makes the character more compassionate and worthy of attention. While he may play a minor role in the last few novels, series regular and former protagonist Mac Smith is always a pleasure to see on the page. His anchored approach seeks to allow the law to do battle rather than devious behaviour, but he has a way about him that keeps the reader from rolling their eyes. With a narrative that pushes along and keeps the story fresh, Bain does wonderful things by educating the reader about many of the nuances of Nigeria and some of the vast differences with North American life, which provides a rich plot. Bain shows a dedication to the backstory and weaves it together effectively through a mix of short and longer chapters. The reader cannot get enough as they seek to learn which twists will influence the larger story and which are dead ends to entertain. Bain has kept Truman’s series alive with his own flavour and left series fans fairly impressed. Sadly, with his death, I suppose this is the last instalment in a long-running and highly energetic series.
Kudos, Mr. Bain, for keeping the spirit of Margaret Truman alive. She would be proud with your effort and I know fans of the novels are sure to applaud this effort. I thank you for all the work you did on this series and that you may now rest in peace.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
January 9, 2020
3 Stars. I've always wanted to try Margaret Truman's Capital Crimes series, but #30 didn't catch fire. It was good enough for me to say there will be a next time, but that will be an early one. The tension escalates from Washington to London to Port Harcourt, but I never felt empathy for any of the leads. A separated couple, David and Elizabeth have recently lost their son Trevor in Nigeria. He was working for Excal, an American oil company in the dangerous Niger Delta; they were told he was murdered by rebel factions. David provides security services for the British Embassy in Washington and Elizabeth is a rising legal star at a firm in DC whose biggest client is Excal. You know complications are coming! When David encounters a Nigerian man wearing his son's bracelet, a family heirloom, he learns that Excal's security firm, SureSafe, may have actually been responsible for their son's death. He and his new friend Robert Brixton, ask, "Where lies the truth?" Get ready for everything Nigerian, criminal that is, financial scams, oil skim-offs, day-to-day corruption, and war lords! One also wonders where the truth lies there. (August 2019)
September 23, 2018
This is the first Margaret Truman novel not written by her that I've read. It might be the last. The characters I wanted to read about were demoted to third-tier, stilted dialogue, repetitive, uneven pacing, and the entire plot seemed completely pointless. Unless the point was to constantly hammer home that multi-national oil conglomerates are ruthless, greedy, murderous scum and the entire Nigerian government is corrupt. Yeah. Already knew that, thanks. Truman's characters were always so charming, making the entire lack of charm amongst these folks the book's most glaring defect. I hope the next writer to pick up this series can do right by these characters. Or at least better than this.
April 4, 2019
April & Jan. 2019 I was looking forward to a D.C. centric whodunit. Much of the book is either in Nigeria or dealing with the various Nigerian Prince financial frauds. Lots of repetition laying out the plot. The final 4 chapters were fine.
May 4, 2018
Good book. Quick read. Very intriguing.
March 27, 2019
A good read.....fast paced, interesting characters. First Capital Crimes series I have read. After reading other reviews, I must go back and read in order.
December 4, 2019
A trip to Nigeria solves some issues and makes for a decent thriller.
April 4, 2020
Please, if you loved this series, DO NOT read this book. It will spoil the series for you forever.
Though it seems that Bain wrote this either just before he died or as he was dying, so there likely will be no more of this series.
That can be the only reason that a solid writer like Bain messed this up so badly. Plot holes you could drive a school bus through, lack of logic, lack of correct cultural interpretation, an elude/allude botch and just the fact that the supposed main characters, Max and Annibel are extremely fringe operators here. They only really show up when they invite all the movers to dinners.
Though it seems that Bain wrote this either just before he died or as he was dying, so there likely will be no more of this series.
That can be the only reason that a solid writer like Bain messed this up so badly. Plot holes you could drive a school bus through, lack of logic, lack of correct cultural interpretation, an elude/allude botch and just the fact that the supposed main characters, Max and Annibel are extremely fringe operators here. They only really show up when they invite all the movers to dinners.
May 5, 2019
Robert, don't call me Bobby, Brixton joins his close friend, David Portland, in investigating the large oil company,XCAL, and its security outfit, SureSafe. Portland's son died mysteriously in Nigeria while working for XCAL, though the official story is that he was killed by Nigerian rebels, MEND, out on the Nigerian Delta. It happens that Brixton is also involved in trying to piece together SureSafe's relationship to a charity, Bright Horizons, also based in Nigeria. It appears to have bilked an American out of his savings and he then committed suicide. His son has hired MacKenzie Smith to investigate the possibility of recovering any of the money or at least to bring the bilkers to justice.
As David's investigation continues in London and Brixton's continues in Virginia their discoveries begin to focus on two men in the Nigerian Delta, one a warlord and the other the head of SureSafe's operations in the Delta. To settle the mystery they decide to travel to Nigeria, though without a solidly formulated plan of action.
Convoluted, exciting and disturbing all at the same time, the manipulation and corruption rampant in the oil rich delta is also fascinating. A good tale that probably has more truth to it than fiction,
As David's investigation continues in London and Brixton's continues in Virginia their discoveries begin to focus on two men in the Nigerian Delta, one a warlord and the other the head of SureSafe's operations in the Delta. To settle the mystery they decide to travel to Nigeria, though without a solidly formulated plan of action.
Convoluted, exciting and disturbing all at the same time, the manipulation and corruption rampant in the oil rich delta is also fascinating. A good tale that probably has more truth to it than fiction,
July 16, 2018
Easy to read ...fast paced, but I don’t think it was one of the best in the Capital Crime series.
This book moves away from Washington DC to Nigeria, a land full of warlords, fraudulent activities and murder. A Washington international investigator is on a quest to find the “real” reason his son was murdered while working for a geological survey company and how the murder is connected to the XCAL oil company...a company represented by a law firm that his executive wife works for.
Good, but....
This book moves away from Washington DC to Nigeria, a land full of warlords, fraudulent activities and murder. A Washington international investigator is on a quest to find the “real” reason his son was murdered while working for a geological survey company and how the murder is connected to the XCAL oil company...a company represented by a law firm that his executive wife works for.
Good, but....
February 9, 2020
This is a story with a rather slow tedious beginning, and improves as it moves along.
Donald BAIN has a good grip on current trends and weaves a good story involving corruption in the oil rich country of Nigeria.
The characters are well produced as are the plots, although some of the dialogues and 'secrets' leave a bit to be desired. BAIN appears not a sentimentalist and allows the story and plot to move along regardless of deaths and destruction.
Recommended.
Donald BAIN has a good grip on current trends and weaves a good story involving corruption in the oil rich country of Nigeria.
The characters are well produced as are the plots, although some of the dialogues and 'secrets' leave a bit to be desired. BAIN appears not a sentimentalist and allows the story and plot to move along regardless of deaths and destruction.
Recommended.
September 6, 2017
Margaret Truman Daniel continues her series of Capitol murders with this latest whodoneit. It's an interesting read, but at the end, there are a few loose ends.
I read this EARC courtesy of MacMillan and Edelweiss. pub date 02/27/18
I read this EARC courtesy of MacMillan and Edelweiss. pub date 02/27/18
March 12, 2018
First book read by this author. Totally suspenseful story from start to finish. Leading to a journey of revenge that cost much but accomplished more.
February 21, 2022
This is a situation where an author has taken over a series from another author. Sometimes this works and sometimes it falls completely flat. Allied in Danger falls in the latter category. I haven’t read much of Margaret Truman, but what I have read is clearly better than this novel.
This novel falls short in a number of ways. For one thing, the writing was subpar. Not only was the quality of writing poor, but the author kept on repeating the same things over and over again. It almost seemed as if there were a dozen writers who wrote this book, and none of the writers kept track of what the others were writing, and all independently wrote the same backstory. The characters were also quite poor. David Portland was the only half likeable character in the novel. The rest weren’t. In particular, Robert Brixton just comes off as a dope. The plot wasn’t believable, but by the time I got toward the end, I had long stopped caring about it.
Although I will read more Margaret Truman in the future, I will no longer read anything from this author.
Carl Alves – author of Beyond Ragnarok
This novel falls short in a number of ways. For one thing, the writing was subpar. Not only was the quality of writing poor, but the author kept on repeating the same things over and over again. It almost seemed as if there were a dozen writers who wrote this book, and none of the writers kept track of what the others were writing, and all independently wrote the same backstory. The characters were also quite poor. David Portland was the only half likeable character in the novel. The rest weren’t. In particular, Robert Brixton just comes off as a dope. The plot wasn’t believable, but by the time I got toward the end, I had long stopped caring about it.
Although I will read more Margaret Truman in the future, I will no longer read anything from this author.
Carl Alves – author of Beyond Ragnarok
Read
July 27, 2025Robert is hired to help Mac's client whose father was financially ruined by a Nigerian money scam. R's friend David's son is murdered in Nigeria. He wants answers! The 2 men travel to London & then to Nigeria together. They find they are being tracked by a law firm investigator, who decides to join them. They meet with rebels & try to find the truth of the murder. Caught in a cross fire, David is fatally shot, but so is the man who killed his son! Mac's client decides not to pursue his case.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2021
Nothing to do with Margaret Truman’s legacy . Had potential but failed . Very wordy and repetitive. Great premise in lot and characters but fell short . Nigerian phone scams, suicides, Nigerian oil corruption, murdered activists, shady US charities and security and oil companies made for a potential great book but it wasn’t . Stilted .
December 27, 2022
Absolutely hated this book. I thought the series involved Margaret Truman instead it is a book about the evils of Nigerian oil and its appropriation by foreign countries. One major storyline is a total boondoggle. There are so many holes in the continuity of the story that a truck could get thru easily. Simply a horrible waste of my time. Kristi & Tabby
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2024
The series has taken a turn and reads more like a Tom Clancy and the likes. While I enjoy those authors too, the theme that has drawn me to the Capital Crimes series has been the political motifs and familiar settings. I know that Ms. Truman is no longer alive and the novels are continuing through use of ghost writers, I hope they start to bend back to the original premise.
July 12, 2018
A good story line, fast paced action.
Read
March 7, 2021Not as good a s the Margaret Truman's
November 24, 2021
Good but a little hard to get into the book
May 4, 2023
Most of the book takes place in Nigeria. Mostly about the corruption by both politicians and natives with the oil companies.
August 9, 2024
Plot was OK BUT the writing lacked nuance and emotion. Especially at the end
March 15, 2025
This was a little dragged out for me and a lot of back and forth between different characters. It's easy to go down the rabbit hole and try to get answers when it comes to family.
November 19, 2020
This is the first in the series I have read since Margaret Truman passed and someone has taken over the series. I feel the plot could have been ok, but the story was so poorly written that I had a hard time with it. There was a ton of repetition of issues; i.e. the friendship between Portland and Brixton. And there was a lot of description that was not necessary and it almost seemed like just filler to get the page numbers up. I will not be continuing with the series.
August 19, 2018
More thriller than mystery yet not very thrilling. Took a long time to get to the ending.
April 18, 2019
From Washington DC to Nigeria. David Portland goes to oil fields of Nigeria to seek killer of his geologist son.
Read
June 24, 2019This was definitely a strange book. Had some great humor in it, but overall, just a little too all over the place and different.
January 9, 2021
Meh. Not a bad book, not poorly written, interesting enough concept, but honestly I forgot it almost as soon as I finished it.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews