Published by arrangement with G.P. Putnam's Sons a member of Penguin Group, Inc., 2012.

A Chinese national working for an American-owned construction company is grabbed off a Shanghai street in broad daylight. His one-man security detail goes missing. Rutherford Risk is a firm specializing in the negotiation for and recovery of hostages. With private investigation illegal in today's China, the operation will be difficult at best. So the firm hires two unique outsiders to do their bidding: forensic accountant Grace Chu to follow the money; and John Knox, a civilian with unparalleled training in both combat and culture.