LITERARY REVIEW's Best Thrillers of 2010SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2011 CWA GOLD DAGGER AWARDThe Agent: In the mountain fastness of the Hindu Kush a deadly game of deception and intrigue is entering its final phase. At its heart, a man known only as the Engineer.The Analyst: In the subterranean corridors of Washington an ambitious young NSA operative receives an intercept that confirms her agency's worst fears. But she's not convinced. She thinks it's a trap.The Mother: In a fortified village high above the Swat Valley, a hostage awaits execution. She can't out-fight her captors, but can she out-think them? Can she get into their heads before she loses hers?The Son: On the other side of the world, a Special Forces soldier in a clandestine branch of the American military plans a daring rescue operation. But to save his mother he will have to betray his country.At the intersection of East and West, of faith and fanaticism, of loyalty and betrayal, New York Times bestselling author Michael Gruber has created a provocative, high-calibre thriller where one family's convoluted past is catching up with the present, where nightmares and dreams can become real, where truth and lies can be one and the same.

Michael Gruber was born and raised in New York City. He has a PhD in octopus behaviour, and has served as a US Army medic, a chef, a roadie, a Washington D.C. policy analyst and speechwriter. Since 1990, however, he has been a full-time writer and is the author of the international bestseller The Book of Air and Shadows. He now lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife, three children and an extremely large dog.