Crafting a chilling mind puzzle packed with �nifty new tricks� (Publishers Weekly), Jeffery Deaver lifts the curtain of a clandestine intelligence agency, pitting two �ingenious� (Library Journal) opponents in a high-stakes volley of brilliant wits and calculated risks with deadly consequences.
 
Behind the well-known U.S. security organizations�the FBI and CIA among them�lies a heavily guarded, anonymous government agency dedicated to intelligence surveillance and to a highly specialized brand of citizen protection.
 
Shock waves of alarm ripple through the clandestine agency when Washington, D.C., police detective Ryan Kessler inexplicably becomes the target of Henry Loving, a seasoned, ruthless �lifter� hired to obtain information using whatever means necessary. While Loving is deft at torture, his expertise lies in getting an �edge� on his victim�leverage�usually by kidnapping or threatening family until the �primary� caves under pressure.
 
The job of keeping the Kessler family alive falls to a man named Corte, a senior federal protection officer known as a �shepherd.� Uncompromising, relentlessly devoted to protecting those in his care and a passionate board game aficionado, he applies brilliant gaming strategy to his work. For Corte, the reappearance of Loving�the man who, six years earlier, had tortured and killed someone close to him�is also an opportunity to avenge his friend�s death. The assignment soon escalates into a fast-paced duel between Corte and Loving, a dangerous volley of wits and calculated risks.
 
As he shepherds the Kesslers to a concealed safe house, Corte must anticipate Loving�s every step as the lifter moves in on his prey, and with the help of razor-sharp investigator Claire DuBois and his longtime ally, FBI agent Paul Fredericks, pinpoint which of Kessler�s seemingly insignificant cases has triggered Loving�s return. As the team digs deeper, each of the Kesslers comes under close scrutiny, and in captivity their family bonds are stretched to the breaking point�as the lifter draws near, Corte must ultimately choose between protecting his charges and exposing them to a killer in the name of long-awaited revenge.
 
Hardback