Museum curator Summer Hawthorne considered theexquisite ice-blue ceramic bowl given to her by herbeloved Japanese nanny a treasure of sentimentalvalue--until somebody tried to kill her for it. The priceless relic is about to ignite a global powerstruggle that must be stopped at all costs. It's adesperate situation, and international operativeTakashi O'Brien has received his directive: everybodyis expendable. Everybody. Especially the woman whois getting dangerously under his skin as the lethalgame crosses the Pacific to the remote and beautifulmountains of Japan, where the truth can be asseductive as it is deadly....