The Bitter Past introduces us to Porter Beck, the sheriff of Lincoln County, over 10,000 square miles of dry, sparsely populated land in the southeast part of Nevada. Its claim to fame is Area 51, the epicenter of UFO/UAP conspiracies. That seems fitting since Sheriff Beck finds himself unraveling an epic conspiracy, one that seems as  rooted in the past and the Los Alamos nuclear research. Indeed, the narrative jumps from the present to the past and the Soviet agent working to infiltrate the program.

The Bitter Past begins with the murder of a retired FBI agent who had been interrogated using multiple forms of torture. It is a horrific death. The FBI wants to be sure it’s  not tied into his work and sends an agent, the very beautiful Sana Locke who piques more than Beck’s interest. If that is not enough for the county’s deputies to handle, there is a kidnapping of a woman from a polygamist Mormon clan to divide their focus. Beck thinks dividing their attention might just be the purpose.

In addition to two difficult cases, Beck is burdened with open disrespect from a former police chief who is angry that his local police have been merged with the county sheriff’s with him in the junior position and with a brand new officer recently hired by the former police chief. If that were not enough, his father, the former sheriff, is suffering from age-related dementia.

The Bitter Past is a solid mystery with a complex plot that is fair. Readers can reason their way to not only the solution, but many of the revelations along the way. It is fast-paced and will keep your attention, perhaps even rob you of sleep. However, I found myself rolling my eyes and thinking “of course he does” several times when Beck revealed himself the possessor of arcane knowledge and skills that made him more suitable for a Marvel comic and a Jeopardy tournament than a novel. I hope in future books in what could be a fabulous series, Bruce Borgos will allow Porter Beck a few flaws and have him reach for Google once in a while.

I received an e-galley of The Bitter Past from the publisher through NetGalley.