"The absence of the beloved, short though it may last, always lasts too long." Jean Baptiste Poquelin Molieri

Web London's FBI Hostage Rescue Team is lured into a trap, caught in a crossfire and slaughtered. He's the only survivor.

One witness to the team's massacre is a ten year old named Kevin Westbrook. He's the younger brother of a drug dealer named Big F. After the shooting, Kevin disappears.

Knowing that he needs to deal the with effects of the loss of his team, Web goes to psychiatrist, Claire Daniels. As he tells her about his past, we learn of the anguish and guilt that he feels that he is alive and didn't do whatever he could to save his team.

Percy Bates meets with the undercover agent who told the officials of what they could get in the raid. The undercover agent, Randall Cove suggests that one group is controlling the Oxycontin flow from rural areas to the major cities in the East Coast. Cove believes that the drugs could be coming from small pockets in Appalicia.

I enjoyed the book and felt that Web London was one of Baldacci's better protagonists. He's easy to sympathise with, compassionate and dedicated. The interaction between London and Claire Daniels was also well done and left me hoping for more.

The author also provided a number of well timed plot twists that caught me totally unaware.

Well done.