Meet Max Starkey—disgraced CIA operative turned underworld fixer—whose past loves, rivals, and indiscretions close in on him in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

Seven years after a CIA mission in Laos went sideways, Max lives in the gray spaces between criminals and justice, recovering stolen goods for villains who don’t ask questions. But when he’s lured to Bangkok under false pretenses, his past catches up with him.

The setup: an old flame, Kelly Riggs, now married to his CIA rival.

The job: steal $130 million in dictator-owned gold before a coup ignites.

The problem : everyone plans a double-cross—and Max is the mark. Then there’s Giuliana Abara, Max’s sharp-tongued “companion,” an undercover FBI agent with secrets of her own, who further proves that trust kills and redemption demands blood in this high-octane debut thriller—spanning the streets of Bangkok to the Laotian rainforest— by screenwriter Gregory Poirier.