"A gritty, twist-filled thriller" of crime and corruption by a two-time Edgar Award winner ( The Wall Street Journal).

John Shannon is a petty thief on the run. A three-time loser framed for a murder he didn't commit, he knows the cops are closing in on him and that he's facing life in prison—or death by lethal injection. Then, as if out of nowhere, a bizarre text message draws him to a meeting in the dark of night. A foreigner who calls himself the Identity Man offers Shannon an incredible chance to start again: a new face, a new home, a new beginning.

Soon Shannon finds himself living a life he never dreamed possible. In a ruined city trying to rebuild, he finds work as a carpenter and a wood carver. He meets the beautiful Teresa Grey and for the first time falls in love with the sort of woman who could make him a better man.

It seems too good to be true—and it is. It turns out this ruined city is crawling with corruption. There are crooked politicians, gangsters, dirty cops everywhere—and, for some reason he doesn't understand, all of them seem to want Shannon dead . . .

"Klavan builds slow-burning tension like nobody's business, and Shannon's struggle to redeem himself is powerful and compelling." — Booklist