Synopsis

A pimp is found dead in a rough New York neighbourhood. A far-right extremist is fatally shot at his remote log cabin outside Seattle. An eighteen-year-old computer hacker is murdered on his way home from working at a call centre in India. One thing unites these victims. All had, at some point in their largely wasted and grubby lives, performed an act of exceptional goodness. Someone is murdering good people. Why?

For rookie journalist Will Monroe, in his first week on the crime beat for the New York Times, the story is a gift, the launch pad for a glittering career. But then his wife Beth is kidnapped, and the riddle becomes personal.

When he starts receiving cryptic messages from the kidnappers, who warn him not to involve the police, Will realizes he needs serious help. The rebellious ex-girlfriend he hasn't seen for five years might be the person Will least wants to see right now, but he knows that if anyone can break the kidnappers' code, it's her. And if TC can help save Beth then he has no alternative but to beg for her help. But as Will and TC piece together the clues, it becomes apparent that the kidnappers are motivated by a far higher calling than simple greed...

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About the Author

Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of Jonathan Freedland, award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He has written a weekly column for the Guardian since 1997, having previously served as the paper’s Washington correspondent, and presents Radio 4’s contemporary history programme, The Long View. The most successful male thriller writer in the UK today, Sam Bourne’s first novel The Righteous Men was a Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2006 and a No. 1 bestseller, selling over 600,000 copies in paperback. His three subsequent novels, The Last Testament, The Final Reckoning and The Chosen One have all been Sunday Times Top Five bestsellers.   Author photograph © Eamonn McCabe 2011 More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation