by Robert Baer
First published 2011
Bob Baer earned the Career Intelligence Medal for his decades of Middle East operations, but his spy career destroyed his marriage and left him isolated from his children. Dayna Williamson started as a Berkeley graduate doing CIA background checks before advancing to Protective Operations, where she learned weapons, explosives, and high-speed evasion. The work took her to dangerous assignments worldwide but cost her marriage and friendships. When Bob and Dayna meet during a mission in war-torn Sarajevo, neither expects romance. Both are too experienced and cynical for immediate attraction. Yet something connects between them as the danger mounts. They decide to leave the Agency together and attempt to rebuild normal lives. Turning in their CIA identification cards proves insufficient to escape their covert past. Living as supposed civilians in conflict-heavy Beirut, they continue fielding assassination offers and meeting with Arab sheiks, oil magnates, terrorists, and criminals. Death threatens them repeatedly, but their greatest test still awaits. The story follows two professionals trying to recover their humanity after years of deception and sacrifice.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, adventure, thriller, action, espionage
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, second-chance
Setting: Beirut, Sarajevo
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
320 pages · Hardcover · Crown
Content warnings: violence