Cruxys Solutions is a private insurance and security company specializing in clients in hazardous professions. A little over six weeks ago, James Chadwick, a drone expert, took out a protection contract with Cruxys, which provides assistance and safety to his family in case anything should happen to him. Chadwick included a Code Red Clause indicating that if Cruxys didn't hear from him every five days using a special code, Cruxys is to assume something is wrong. They should initiate the Code Red alert, begin a search for his location and protect his family. Chadwick hasn't activated his personal code in six days, so Cruxys agents Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik are assigned to reconnoiter the situation and try to locate Chadwick.

As their investigation progresses, the FBI becomes involved, which helps with research and gives Gonzales and Vaslik the freedom to search for Chadwick on their own. It soon becomes obvious this is more than a kidnapping for ransom or a guy disappearing. When it's discovered that a shipment of highly sophisticated drones has been confiscated, the situation becomes even more serious. However, the FBI does not agree that the threat is as dire as Cruxys believes it to be. So Cruxys agents Gonzales and Vaslik Vaslik are on their own to not only locate Chadwick, but to stop a terrorist attack aimed at a remote US Air Force base and the assassination of the President. Will Gonzales and Vaslik be able to discern the terrorists' movements in time to stop the attack and rescue Chadwick alive?

Adrian Magson's THE BID is thrilling suspense at its best as Magson masterfully weaves a realistic depiction of terrorist threats and how they could be carried out. Formulating an ingenious, complex and ripped-from-the-headlines plot, Magson's detailed descriptions are believable enough to cause nightmares. I kept wondering how the team of Gonzales and Vaslik would solve the case, since they seem a bit incompatible. But as more of their individual personalities and backgrounds were revealed, it became obvious they were the best ones for the job as they pursued elusive clues from London to New York to a starkly remote area in Oklahoma. THE BID gave me chills as the possibilities of its plotline became more believable with each page I turned. The explosive conclusion had me holding my breath with anticipation. The first book in Adrian Magson's Cruxys Solutions Investigation series, THE LOCKER, was a stunning psychological thriller I reviewed in January 2016. I enjoyed THE BID even more, so I'm anticipating continued satisfaction in the next Cruxys novel. novel.