In this riveting conclusion to Stephen White’s Alan Gregory series, the Boulder psychologist is forced to acknowledge that the perils that may bring him to his knees are not the dangers he recognizes, nor are they orchestrated by the nemesis he has long feared. Instead, he is confronted by unexpected threats from unanticipated adversaries and by intimate betrayal from those who have been closest to him.

In this penultimate installment of Stephen White’s series, Alan Gregory begins to fear that a mesmerizing new patient of his may be the catalyst that can cause everything he treasures --- his marriage, family, friendship and future --- to implode. As the authorities close in, the story hurtles toward a conclusion that will set the stage for the most unexpected of outcomes: the final act of the Alan Gregory saga.

Cádiz, 1811: Bombs are falling. Paranoia reigns in a city under siege, but it is worsened when the bodies of murdered women begin to turn up in abandoned corners of the city. Something dark is certainly afoot --- and this shadowy evil seems to have a message for merciless police commissioner Rogelio Tizón. His determination to find the killer will take him on a twisting path through the intertwined lives of those trapped together in the city.