marcus l. garand

Abducted by militants and taken to a fetid bunker deep in the mountains of North Waziristan, a journalist meets a dying holy man who saddles him with an ominous obligation. The obligation is unclear and Reis knows the man will expire within hours, freeing him from responsibility. He does nothing and tries to forget, but six months later, when he learns the cleric has died hundreds of miles from the bunker, he realizes he must act. The problem is he doesn't know where to start...

Lake, a former Marine Force Recon officer and now with the CIA's Special Activities Division, has led paramilitary operations in Kuwait, Iraq, Bosnia, Sudan, and Pakistan. An alleged affair with a married Muslim woman gets him transferred from Islamabad to Kabul and then out to Orgun-E, where he trains a guerrilla army in the restive border regions. One night, he receives a strange parcel and a dangerous opportunity. Three years from retirement, Lake must decide if it's worth the risks. To make the decision, he must first meet a murderous Yemeni who has sworn to kill him and demands he come alone. He accepts, and the opportunity in Waziristan could bring the American government to its knees...

A section leader at the Counter Terrorism Center in Langley, she has hunted Osama bin Laden for five years, chasing every rumor that might lead to his capture. Forsythe is the best the agency has and her energy and dedication alienate some lesser colleagues, who she suspects may be leaking information. When she eavesdrops on a conversation in a nearby coffee shop, she worries that her identity and her position have been compromised. Her fears are confirmed when she receives an anonymous phone call on a secure line at her townhouse. What she hears will take her from Langley to Guantanamo Bay to the White House, embroil her in a questionable special operations mission, and put her on a collision course with her lover...

Reis, Lake, Forsythe, a Russian military attache, a Navy SEAL sniper, an Al Qaeda informant, and a grizzled detective. All have pieces of a sinister puzzle, but none of them know it. Finding each piece and what it means will throw the characters on a roller coaster ride of lies, betrayal, diamonds, and death. If they survive, the puzzle is complete, the ones behind the most heinous betrayal in history will be unmasked, and the world will know what really happened in Abbottabad...