Nukes and Russians and murder, oh my! Bruce Borgos has constructed an engrossing mystery set in the desert of Nevada. The Bitter Past features Sheriff Porter Beck, a former Army Intelligence Officer, who was born in Nevada and returned there after his time in the service was done. He now holds the position his dad once held. Pop, now quite elderly, has dementia but still has his lucid moments and has a good relationship with Beck. He’s also close with his adopted daughter, Brin. Despite the area’s history with nuclear testing and “Downwinders,” who experienced illness and death due to nuclear fallout, the events in this story are more horrific than Beck or any of his deputies have ever experienced.

It begins with the body of an elderly, retired FBI agent who is found in his remote residence. The ways in which the man has been tortured and the fact that his home has been trashed indicate to Beck that the killer didn’t find what he was looking for. This is a ruthless killer, one who will not stop until he gets what he came for.

Enter FBI Agent Sana Locke. She’s attractive, smart, and secretive. Did I mention attractive? She’s only willing to share so much information with Beck about the dead FBI guy, but Beck’s been around the block a few times and can put two and two together. However, the killer manages to stay one step ahead. This book reads like a chess match on steroids.

Despite the graphic carnage, both Beck and Locke are funny at times, and I found myself laughing out loud at their exchanges. This is all in the present. We get the back story about what and why the Russians are after someone after all this time. Back in the mid- to late 1950 there was a Russian spy who infiltrated the nuclear test site. He was thought to have died, but if he’d lived, he’d be at least in his late 80s.

I enjoyed the pace of this book and the characters. There are twists that I did not see coming. I especially liked the author’s sense of right and wrong, of family, and of caring for others that he instills in several of his characters.

I received a digital copy of The Bitter Past in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and the author.

This book was recommended to me as a book that would appeal to CJ Box and Craig Johnson fans. I haven’t read those authors yet so I can’t confirm; however, after reading this book I want to read them both now!

The alternating timelines in this story are done very well, the breaks work to keep the pacing fast and the reader’s interest piqued. The characters were rich and interesting, even side characters had a bit of depth to them. The plotting was brilliant and the twists were fun.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it!

Definitely enjoyed this and the mix of fact and fiction. There were a couple of things that rubbed me wrong but those are my issues and not really anything that took away from the story.

With vivid characters in a unique setting, this story roared along. . I loved the sheriff’s humor.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a new to me author but i enjoyed the book it reminded of the Longmire Or Jim Chee series which I loved. . I found it to be a good fast paced mystery of the high desert of Nevada and tough local sheriff.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

A retired FBI agent is brutally killed in a remote desert town; is the reason buried in past secrets?

Porter Beck is the sheriff in Lincoln County, Nevada, a remote and barren desert area north of Las Vegas, as was his father before him. He grew up there but left years earlier to pursue a military career, ultimately serving in Army intelligence. When a mission went awry, he escaped with his life, but it ended his career with the Army. At the same time, Beck’s father was displaying signs of Alzheimer’s, and Beck returned home and took over as Sheriff. Not everyone is happy with Beck being in charge; his lieutenant, Wardell, thinks he should have gotten the job instead. As Wardell is very old school, including being more than a little racist, that was never going to happen, but he doesn't see that. He makes it a point to make Beck’s job difficult when he can, like when he hires a new officer for the team without Beck’s input. ‘New Guy Pete”, as that hire is now known, has worked out thus far, though, so Beck let’s it slide. Others trained under Beck;s dad, and are both competent and happy to work under Beck’s leadership. It is not an area known for major crime, so when the body of Ralph Atterbury, retired FBI agent, is found in his home horribly mutilated and likely tortured before his death, it gets Beck’s attention…and it also summons the arrival of FBI agent Sana Locke, who claims she wants to help. For a quiet area, Lincoln County suddenly starts to show quite a bit of criminal activity. A young woman, married and living in a nearby polygamous community, goes missing….most think she ran away from a restricted life, but her husband swears she has been abducted. Several graves are disturbed. And then another elderly man in the area is found dead. How much of all of this, if any is connected? And does any of it have roots in the area’s past, when they were one many communities impacted by nearby nuclear testing?
Inserted into the narrative are chapters set back in the mid-to-late 1950’s, where we are introduced to Freddie Mercer, a young man newly arrived to Las Vegas and trying to make a career for himself. While working at one of the casinos, he meets Kitty Ellison and they start keeping company. They have much in common, it seems, including a love for physics. Kitty introduces Freddie to her dad, a physicist who works at the nearby nuclear testing site. Dr. Ellison gets Freddie a job doing security at the site, and Freddie’s hard work and intelligence make his a valued employee. But Freddie may be more than what he seems, and in a highly secure place that could be a really big problem.
Lincoln County has suffered for years from the residual effects of exposure to radiation, with cancer and miscarriages affecting so many of its inhabitants. But it seems that what happened there during the Cold War is going to bring more deaths, and expose some long hidden secrets that may be better left buried. This is a criminal mystery, but there are also elements of espionage, conspiracy theory, and the reality that governments often consider its citizens to be expendable in the interest of pursuing a greater good.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and found it hard to put down once I began. Porter Beck is an interesting character, flawed but with a strong code of ethics. His father and sister add some interesting wrinkles to his life, as do some of the odd characters in town. This is billed as the first in a series, and I look forward to reading Beck’s further exploits. Fans of C J Box’s Joe Pickett series and Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series would find this story of interest, although it is set in Nevada vs Wyoming, as might readers of Hillerman and even Steve Hamilton and Stephen Hunter. Many thanks to Goodreads and St Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy of The Bitter Past….it was a wonderful read that I highly recommend.

The Bitter Past is a solid starter on what is listed as the Porter Beck series. The storyline is a dual one, alternating between Beck in the present hunting a Russian and searching for a missing girl, and Freddy Meyer/Georgiy in the past. Georgiy is an undercover spy working as a security guard at Area 57, part of a plan to discredit American and their nuclear bombs. As Georgiy gets settled into his life, the thought of injuring or killing innocent people begins to unsettle him, putting the Russian plan at risk. In Beck's time there's a Russian operation underway to find a surviving "illegal" Russian from that mission many years ago that's causing havoc in the Nevada territory Beck covers as sheriff. FBI Agent Sana Locke arrives and makes it clear that the hunt has national implications. The pair quickly discover that the person they're hunting is knowledgeable and resourceful, and is eliminating men that meet the requirements to be the illegal in hiding. When a young woman goes missing, Beck's limited force is stretched even more thin trying to work both cases. This is definitely a traditional action adventure type novel in the vein of C.J. Box or Clive Cussler, and to some extent David Baldacci. The lawman has all these secret skills (and naturally a weakness, in Beck's case poor night vision) that allow him to be one or more steps ahead of everyone else. There's the pretty female that it doesn't take long to get into bed, and isn't really that strong of a character. In this case it's Sana, who comes off as pretty incompetent, which is more than a little ridiculous because she's the federal agent, and Beck's the sheriff. There's the collection of secondary characters that includes Beck's sister Brinley and his police force. The storyline certainly feels plausible, and there's definitely a twist at the end of the story. Because of the dual timeline and the twist, I would be interested to see how Borgos follows this up with a second book in the series, because I can't seem him duplicating this with the same set of characters. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 18, 2023
Fans of C.J. Box will devour Bruce Borgos’ newest novel. A gripping police procedural set in the Nevada desert, “The Bitter Past” is the first in the Porter Beck series of novels, and it will leave readers gasping!
After leaving the Army, Porter Beck returned home to the Nevada desert, and is now working as the sheriff, the position his father held before dementia claimed his mind. A retired FBI officer is found in his home, tortured and murdered, and signs point to a decades-old incident from the county’s nuclear involvement. Beck and his team are soon joined by the FBI, led by agent Sana Locke, but the crime scene is still doused in mystery and time is running out.
“Past” is an engaging read, narrated in two time periods. First, obviously, is in the present day where Beck and his team are leading the investigation. Then, a Russian operative has infiltrated the American nuclear war program in Nevada, hiding in plain sight as a security officer. The past and present intersect in an unexpected and deliciously twisted way, as Borgos flowing, creative plot suspensefully builds to a powerhouse ending.
I liked the characters, although Beck was portrayed as a little too “country bumpkin” for me, especially for someone who worked as a secret operative in the U.S. Army. Something didn’t sit right with me when it came to Sana (which made sense to me later as the plot developed), but I was not a fan of hers from the jump. She was unprofessional, leaping into bed with Beck during an investigation, and who was intimidated by any other remotely attractive female that was within her vicinity (such as Beck’s sister). Beck’s struggle with his father’s dementia was emotional and heartbreaking and it gave Beck a softer, human side which I appreciated.
The police investigation kept me turning the pages, with its non-stop action and government conspiracy coverups. There was even a side plot where a young woman is kidnapped from a Mormon commune, and Borgos still managed to make everything come together smoothly.
I love C.J. Box and Borgos’ Porter Beck novels are right up there as far as tension and plot fluidity. I look forward to reading more of Beck and his team!

What a great read! The Bitter Past combines a great mystery with history. The characters are great and I loved getting into the Russian spy's head as well as Beck's. I would love to see what's next for Porter Beck.

Porter Beck is the sheriff in small town in the high desert outside Las Vegas. He followed in his father's footsteps to become sheriff after he returned from dark places around the world. His department is too small to cover the miles and miles included in his jurisdiction. When a retired FBI agent is killed in his remote cabin, Beck is drawn into an investigation that dates back to the days when nuclear bombs were tested in Nevada, resulting in many deaths from cancer and other blood diseases, due to exposure to radiation, including Beck's mother. Now, his father is developing dementia. When other bodies turn up, Beck realizes these murders date back to those days of testing. A Russian agent is in town, cleaning up after something happened back in the 50s. Then, another FBI agent shows up in Beck's office. But, is she? Moving between the 1950s and present-day, Beck has to discover what happened all those years ago that is now getting people killed in his jurisdiction. And, how does his father factor into this? An great read with some excellent plotting; the beginning was a little slow, but it finished with a bang! Recommended.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Sheriff Porter's is called to the scene where a retired fbi agent was murdered. While doing some research, he realizes that he has to go back several decades to find the answers that he is looking for. This was a good book.

This book which I assume is the first in a series needs a great deal of work in my opinion in order to deserve a second book. The main character, Porter Beck, has his moments, but much his time is spent on teenage male hormone overload when observing the woman who he is working with on the case. It serves more as a distraction from the plot rather than a titillating side story. Other reviewers really enjoyed this work, but is did not appeal to me as it was mind numbing to get to the end.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

This was quite an exciting book. Once I started reading The Bitter Past, I could not put it down. This is about Sheriff Becker in a Nevada town who had left to join the Army, ended up in intelligence and came home to take over his father’s position as Sheriff. A tortured federal agent was found dead and that is where it starts. Story actually goes back to the 1950’s when a Russian spy was working at a Nevada testing site for the Bomb. It is a very interesting story about the test site, the bomb, and how he is told to steal the bomb so it can be used on the US. You will definitely enjoy this story; in fact, I look forward to reading another story by this author, Bruce Brogos. Thank you NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to find a new author.

In a desert town near Las Vegas, a retired FBI agent is found dead, brutally tortured. Sheriff Porter Beck then gets a visit from another FBI agent offering to help with the investigation, as the murder appears to be connected with possible spying at a nearby nuclear test site. The Bitter Past is a suspenseful and thoroughly entertaining mystery/spy thriller, expertly told in dual timelines alternating from the present to the late 1950’s that will keep you glued to the pages. As the plot unfolds and the timelines merge, the reader is totally engaged with smart, witty dialogue and great characters. Very pleasantly surprised by this one, and definitely looking forward to more in this new series. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos is the first book in the Porter Beck series. This is a thrilling, chilling story. Definitely a page-turner. The characters are well-developed and the storyline flows smoothly. Bruce Borgos is a new-to-me author and I look forward to more stories from him.

This was interesting and unique. The dual timeline was fantastic and added real depth to the story. I enjoyed the historical aspect and the science behind it. The romance part was completely unnecessary to the plot and could have been left out completely. It moved incredibly fast, as to not be believable, and didn't add any value to the story. Overall this was a great first book in a new series and I look forward to more. 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Who doesn't love a gritty sheriff's tale in the desert of Nevada, Area 51 and russian spies? Sherrif Porter Beck inherited his very large county from his dad, who now suffers from dementia. Beck is investigating the execution of a retired FBI agent living in the middle of the desert with a secret bunker full of files. The former agent was tortured because of this hidden information, which Beck and his team soon discover.

This book is told in alternating timelines between the 1950's and the present day. The past provides the background for the Atom Bomb testing and russian spy that gets hired onto the project. The present is Beck and team racing to prevent the next murder.

The plot, setting and characters were very enjoyable and well done. I am hoping that this will become a new series!

Highly recommend!

Definitely not my typical read but I throughly enjoyed it and was instantly pulled into the story. The flashbacks certainly were so important to the story and I loved the twists and turns that hat made this book unputdownable.

Don't let the bland, cliched title put you off. This is an absolutely terrific book, the best mystery-thriller-cop-spy novel mashup I've read in years, and I'm blown away by it, honestly.

The narrative is complicated and you have to pay attention, but the voice of the rural sheriff who relates the contemporary portions in the first person is so compelling that you'll find that easy to do. The prose is clean and sharp as the proverbial razor. The dialogue is so real you would swear you're hearing it spoken as you read.

It's a wonderful book, truly. Mystery-thrillers don't get any better than this.

What an intriguing premise! This was a fast read and I really liked the two different timelines this story took place in. I was equally invested in both. The action never stops! The desert felt so real, it could have been another character.