For thirty years, Robert Ludlum has been the acknowledged master of suspense and global intrigue. With an unbroken string of bestsellers in nearly every country around the world, his books have thrilled hundreds of millions of readers setting a standard that has never been equaled. Having once again raised the bar with his widely acclaimed bestsellers The Prometheus Deception and The Hades Factor, Ludlum returns with the latest novel in his Covert-One series. Delivering all of the complex, compelling action and heartstopping suspense for which he has become so justly famous, Robert Ludlum's latest is a novel that could only come from the imagination of one of America's greatest storyteller:The Cassandra CompactYuri Danko, a deep cover Russian asset for Covert-One, is on the run.His last communication was a cryptic and urgent plea for extraction.With no hint of what sudden danger Danko encountered or information he uncovered that could have driven him to such extreme action, Covert-One operative Jon Smith is sent to the pre-arranged meeting place with instructions to bring Danko out.Ten days later, in Venice, Danko arrives breathless and bedraggled at Jon Smith's table at an outdoor caf in Venice.But he barely opens his mouth before his body is ripped apart by a spray of assassins' bullets.Smith, eluding the hail of bullets, gives chase - only to witness the assassins themselves falling prey to a brutal execution.With only the scant clues left behind by Danko to go on, Jon Smith and Covert-One quickly conclude that someone is out to do the unthinkable - attempt to steal Russia's store of the smallpox virus.Now completely eradicated, smallpox is the deadliest of viruses and could well cause an epidemic of undreamed of scale should it be released in the general population. Smith and his Covert-One colleagues must prevent the virus from being stolen.But their unseen adversaries are several steps ahead of them and the virus is en route to the United States.Now they must unravel the complex scheme, overcome their powerful and invisible opponents, and recover or destroy the virus before the power of total Armageddon rests comfortably in the arms of a madman.AUTHORBIO: Robert Ludlum is the internationally bestselling author of twenty-four novels published in thirty-two languages and forty countries. Read by hundreds of millions world-wide, his books include The Prometheus Deception, The Bourne Identity, The Icarus Agenda, and The Chancellor Manuscript. He divides his time between Florida and Montana.Philip Shelby is a screenwriter and novelist whose numerous books include the bestselling novels Days of Drums, Last Rites, and The Gatekeeper. He lives in Los Angeles, California.