Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers-- a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York and the darkest bayous of Louisiana-- he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder.Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined-- and everything he's believed, everythong he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.