Major Vin Cooper is a special agent in the U.S. Air Force with aviaphobia (fear of flying) as a result of being shot down not once but twice while in a helicopter. He won purple hearts for his service in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Six months after exposing the Vice President of the United States in a conspiracy with the Russians (The Death Trust), Cooper is assigned to investigate the death of Dr. Hideo Tanaka who is doing research for the Department of Defense.

Dr. Tanaka, who worked for Moreton Genetics, allegedly fell overboard and was eaten by a killer white shark. Cooper later learns that Professor Sean Boyle may have thrown Tanaka overboard. In the midst of this investigation, Cooper is called to San Francisco when a vehicle loaded with explosives blows up in front of the Transamerica Pyramid and a secondary gas explosion in an apartment building causes the alleged death of  Professor Boyle.

Yet again, the investigation is interrupted when Cooper is sent to Pensacola to investigate an apparent suicide of a parachute instructor who served with Cooper in Bangkok.  <

Ultimately, Rollins brings all of these stories together with Cooper facing down "the bad guy" after travels in Japan, Korea, Afghanistan and the United States and living on A Knife Edge, the slim margin between life and death.

 Australian David Rollins introduced Vin Cooper in The Death Trust which was a much more compelling read. Cooper is reminiscent of Sean Drummond, the main character in the Brian Haig series, in that both are wise-cracking heroes and the books are written with crisp dialogue. You have to have some sympathy for Cooper not only for his aviaphobia but because his divorce resulted from his wife being caught in a most compromising position with their marriage counselor.  

David Rollins' writing strength is his characterization, especially the wisecracking character of Vin Cooper which makes A Knife Edge is worth reading. Its weakness is the slow unraveling of the three different stories, but the last one hundred pages are definitely the best part of the book. It's not necessary to read The Death Trust first to follow this story, but it would certainly be my choice. I look forward to the third episode in the series and hope it doesn't rely on quite so many coincidences.       

--Jerry Solot