I was at least 3/4 of the way through this book before I found out what “the short drop” was. One of the characters described it as a really slow way to kill someone by hanging, while allowing about an inch of space between their feet and a stool. They basically have to stand on their toes, and when they get tired, they’ll slowly suffocate themselves. I found it fascinating. I didn’t even know that I needed to know what the short drop was!
Anyway, this is one of those twisty stories where people’s alliances keep changing, and nobody is all the way good, or all the way bad. Well, there are at least two guys that are definitely all the way bad. You’ll be able to figure out who I’m talking about by the end. The main character lost his best friend ten years before we start the story. Since then, he’s been arrested for hacking, sent to the military, married, and divorced. He also has a kid. All of this informs how he relates to people and deals with problems. I liked him almost immediately. Someone needs his hacking skills to try and solve the ten year old disappearance of his best friend. Throughout the investigation, he deals with politicians, private contractors (the Blackwater kind), hired assassins, little kids, and rich people.
I have to say that although there isn’t a traditional happy ending, it did turn out as happy as it could’ve while still making sense, and being believable.