First published 2009
A Chinese intelligence general dies on a Pyongyang street, gunned down by shooters in North Korean police uniforms. The surveillance footage looks damning. China prepares for war while Kim Jong-Il threatens nuclear retaliation against Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo. Kirk McGarvey has just returned from Mexico City to his teaching position at the University of South Florida when a North Korean colonel arrives with an impossible request. He wants McGarvey to prove North Korea's innocence in the assassination. McGarvey enters a shadow world where nothing appears genuine. His investigation leads him to a Russian ex-KGB millionaire who brokers contract killings. The trail takes him back to Pyongyang, where he uncovers evidence of a conspiracy designed to ignite global nuclear war. The real masterminds remain hidden, operating from a nation that stands to profit most from worldwide chaos. McGarvey races against time as the region slides toward catastrophe, knowing that one wrong move could trigger the very war the true conspirators want.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, suspense, action, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Pyongyang, North Korea, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Mexico City, University of South Florida, Russia
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Hardcover · Forge Books