When a Boston judge is being blackmailed, Andy Roark must find out who is behind the threat before lives get ruined in this thrilling mystery featuring the Vietnam veteran turned private investigator.

"Fans of Robert B. Parker''s Spenser novels . . . will be eager to see more of Roark" Publishers Weekly

"Roark is genuinely likeable (not too tough, but not a patsy)" The New York Times

Boston, 1985. With the late December cold comes a new job for ex-military operative turned private investigator Andy Roark. Boston judge Ambrose Messer is being blackmailed, and he needs Roark''s help to stop the culprit.

Messer is judging the bench trial of a chemical company accused of knowingly dumping chemical waste in an unsafe manner, causing birth defects and cancer. The evidence against them is overwhelming, but the message from the blackmailer is clear: If you don''t want the world to know your secret, the chemical company wins. Messer doesn''t want to let a threat corrupt his judgement . . . but then again, he could lose everything if his secret comes out!

Judging his client to be a man with morals, Roark plunges into action, determined to find the blackmailer before it''s too late. But the disturbing, unexpected revelations he uncovers make him a target of some very dangerous people, who soon seem determined not only to wreck the life of his client, but to destroy Roark''s too . . .

Written by a US Army veteran and New England police officer, this new instalment in the Andy Roark mystery series will appeal to fans who love a hard-boiled protagonist with a complex backstory and a plot filled with unexpected twists and action-packed scenes.