Jack Reacher… Leonid McGill… John Rain… Now a new brand of tough guy… There is serious trouble brewing on the cracked streets of Newark, New Jersey, and Shell, a former killer-for-hire, finds himself at the deep center of it all. Nevada, a past love interest, has gone missing from a seedy motel, leaving behind nothing but an impression in the wet spot on the bathroom sink counter consistent with the shape of a laptop, a haphazardly parked SUV in the lot with the engine still ticking warm, and blood splatter on the pillows and wall tile. What happened in the shabby motel room? For most, the answer is simple: Nevada must have fallen into the rough trade of sex for money, nothing more than a prostitution transaction gone terribly wrong. From the very start, the case is cold enough to freeze a candle flame. It makes sense for Shell to walk away and chalk it up as merely another dose of the bad luck and trouble that dispirited him on the killing game and chased him from the dark shadows of that previous life. But walking away is always easier said than done. The nagging thought that Nevada is out there somewhere, hurt and praying for a savior, simply will not leave him. In the blink of an eye, Shell is traveling a path littered with shocking betrayals, brutal ambushes, and senseless murders. One day he is ensnared in a Mob beef, and the next he is confronting an assortment of men linked to Nevada: a community activist with the comportment of a street thug, a possibly bent politician, an understated college professor, and a slick fire-and-brimstone preacher. At best, they are all very dangerous; at worse, at least one of them is a murderer. And to survive, Shell is going to have to return to what he worked so hard to distance himself from being: a violent man with a conscience in foreclosure. PRAISE for the works of Phillip Thomas Duck: "...flows smoothly, with Duck revealing information with near perfect timing." --Romantic Times magazine "A didn’t-see-it-coming twist ends Duck’s lively tale with a flourish." --Library Journal ABOUT THE AUTHOR Phillip Thomas Duck straddles the line between two worlds. For paranormal fans, no he isn't a vampire or werewolf, but instead an accomplished author that has published works with traditional publishers (Harlequin and Simon & Schuster) as well as independently. The author lives in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.