First published 2010
Marine sniper Ray Cruz survives an ambush in Afghanistan that kills his team, Whiskey 2-2. Badly wounded, he nearly completes his mission to eliminate warlord Ibrahim Zarzi before a mysterious explosion leaves a thirty-foot crater where Cruz should have died. Months later, Zarzi arrives in Washington as America's new ally, beloved by the State Department and CIA. Then a radio transmission appears in old military code: "Mission will be completed." The FBI recruits legendary sniper Bob Lee Swagger to stop Cruz from reaching his target. Swagger partners with CIA agent Susan Okada, who gives him personal as well as professional reasons to take the case. But the deeper Swagger digs into what happened in Afghanistan, the more he questions the government's support of "The Beheader" and sympathizes with Cruz's mission. Two master snipers circle each other in a deadly game where Swagger must decide whether Cruz is prey to be stopped or a hunter seeking justice.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, action, mystery-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, government-conspiracy
Setting: Afghanistan, Washington
Period: modern
406 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: violence