Mob "troubleshooter" Kevin Markinson returns in this thrilling prequel to Lead Poisoning. Kevin Markinson hasn't been broken... yet. Serving as a Marine sniper in Vietnam didn't make him snap. Working as a CIA assassin didn't faze him. Doing time in prison for a crime he didn't commit was hard, but he managed to keep his tough and cool façade in place. But when his mob boss decides to break him out of prison, he begins to discover the cracks in his emotional armor as things go from bad to worse. Little fissures open larger stress fractures as first he is injured and then taken hostage by a gang of thugs--along with a troubled teenage boy. With law enforcement closing in, can Markinson keep himself from falling completely apart long enough to protect the kid and avoid a return trip to prison?