Recently returned from Iraq, Jason Palmer is disillusioned and at loose ends with his life. He can't seem to come to terms with the life his brother Michael has chosen, running a local bar in their old neighborhood and working to make that area a better place to live for him and his young son, Billy. Michael is serious about putting an end to the gang wars raging in this area of Chicago.

Now, Michael has been murdered and his bar torched with him in it, and Billy is being hunted down as a potential witness to the crime. Jason has a purpose in life -- find his brother's killers and bring them to justice while keeping his nephew safe. But even his experiences in Iraq cannot prepare him for what he's about to face in his quest for justice -- and revenge.

Following on the heals of his excellent debut novel of 2007, THE BLADE ITSELF, Marcus Sakey proves once again his skill at writing a riveting thriller that's fast- paced and gripping from the first sentence to the last. Even though some of the gang-slang terminology was foreign to me, I was so caught up in the sharply drawn plot, it made no difference. Sakey has become one of my favorite authors, and I can't wait for his next thriller novel.

Book Summary

Jason Palmer loved being a soldier. But returned from Iraq with an "other than honorable" discharge, he's finding rebuilding his life the toughest battle yet.

Elena Cruz is a talented cop, the first woman to make Chicago's prestigious Gang Intelligence Unit. She's ready for anything the job can throw at her.

Until Jason's brother, a prominent community activist, is murdered in front of his own son.

Now, stalked by brutal men with a shadowy agenda, Jason and Elena must unravel a conspiracy stretching from the darkest alleys of the ghetto to the manicured lawns of the city's powerbrokers. In a world where corruption and violence are simply the cost of doing business, two damaged people are all that stand between an innocent child—and the killers who will stop at nothing to find him.