A deathbed confession in Apalachicola, FL has Detective JD Duncan opening up a three-year-old cold case of someone killed on her island. As she is on her way back home to Longboat Key, two different vehicles try to take her out. She kills one person, but the other gets away. Is someone trying to silence her for opening this investigation again?

Matt Royal, JD's boyfriend and a retired lawyer on Longboat Key, has a houseguest who is coming off a secret op for a secret government intelligence agency with no letter name. Jock Algren always stays with Matt between ops. He needs time to process what has happened and get his head ready for the next op. But this time, Jock is depressed and despondent. He won't talk to Matt and JD about this last mission and has drowned himself in a bottle for a week. When Jock disappears, Matt and JD go after him, finding him in a hospital in Key West. It seems the bad guys have come to the United States looking for Jock this time, the terrorists he's been trying to take out overseas. Matt and JD are determined to bring Jock back from the vacuum he is in, but that means going up against these terrorists.

When JD's investigation and Matt's mission to save Jock converge, they believe there is a connection between her case and the terrorists who are after Jock. But there are several missing pieces to this puzzle, and people who hold some of those puzzle pieces are dropping like flies.

H. Terrell Griffin takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Florida peninsula from the panhandle to the Keys chasing the bad guys. Mr. Griffin always gives us an eclectic mix of characters who are well-developed and very realistic. We are reacquainted with old supporting characters and introduced to new ones in this latest edition of the Matt Royal series. The dialogue between characters is highly entertaining and the action and plot will hold you spellbound. Mr. Griffin poses the question: Is our legal system geared to take on terrorism? Matt, JD and Jock grapple with the possibility of crossing the line, abandoning their belief in the judicial system and the law, and taking matters into their own hands.

Wade through a tangled web of emails, bank transactions and Jihadist terrorists coming from all sides in MORTAL DILEMMA. No need to have read any of the other books in this wonderful series; just jump right in to this exciting investigative thriller. You will surely enjoy the ride!