The Program

by Stephen White

Part of Alan Gregory, book 9

First published 2002

District Attorney Kirsten Lord watches her husband die in a hail of bullets. The killer had made his promise clear: for every precious thing I lose, you lose two. Now Kirsten lives under a new identity in the Witness Protection Program, where federal marshals assure her she will be safe. Every phone call makes her jump. Every stranger could be an assassin. She confides her fears to psychologist Alan Gregory, but paranoia eats at her daily routine. The convicted killer who destroyed her life walks free while she remains trapped in hiding. Kirsten begins to suspect the people sworn to protect her. The safe house feels like a prison. The new identity feels like a lie. As threats multiply around her, Kirsten discovers that the Program itself harbors the greatest danger of all. Her protectors may be her executioners.

Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action

Vibes: dark, intimate, suspenseful

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator

Setting: United States

Period: Contemporary

441 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Dell

Content warnings: violence

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