A pulsating thriller of modern military action and high-level Washington intrigue with its roots in the Vietnam War by one of the USA's most decorated soldiers. Author of the bestselling military memoir About Face, Colonel David H. Hackworth spent a quarter of a century serving his country before becoming one of its most respected war correspondents. Now, he has drawn on his unrivalled experience to create a compelling novel, an intense story of honour and betrayal -- where the danger comes as much from corrupt politicians and industrialists as from enemy fire...With a golden name and a platinum future, US Army Special Forces Captain Sandy Caine was born to be a soldier, the latest in an eight-generation line of Caine men to serve. But one bad apple did fall from the Caine family tree. When he cracked under fire in Vietnam, Sandy's father dishonoured the long grey line and sentenced his only child to a lifetime of brooding. Now, pulling tours of duty in one global hot spot after another, it occurs to Sandy that he knows a dozen ways to kill a man for every way he knows of being one. Little does he realise that the truth of what happened to his father in Vietnam has transformed into a thirty-year legacy of deception perpetrated by Washington's most powerful players. And the only person with the skills to help Sandy untangle the Caine family secrets is Abigail Mancini, an ambitious civilian reporter with the Washington Chronicle. In times of war, the first casualty is the truth. It's not long before Sandy and Abbie learn that digging it up decades later can get you killed.