“Deon Meyer’s name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.”—Tess Gerritsen

Two impossible cases. One unstoppable team.

When two seemingly disparate investigations collide, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido must race against time in the latest installment of the #1 internationally bestselling series

Aishah Fernandez, distinguished former Deputy Director General of South Africa’s nuclear power regulatory agency, is brutally attacked in her hotel room in Moscow. Four months later, Benny Griessel and his partner Vaughn Cupido—their rank as captains happily restored—find themselves investigating two tragic but seemingly unrelated cases: two small explosions and the suspicious death of private investigator Brandon Maarman. The explosions become all the more mysterious when the motor of a drone with the word “SKORPIO” stenciled on it is found in the rubble.

Dead ends bedevil Benny and Vaughn’s investigations. Strangely, Maarman’s phone records show he spoke several times with Aishah Fernandez, who has since died of an apparent suicide—though the file on her death has been seized by the government for reasons of national security. And the two men seen with Maarman just before he died are brutally murdered. Through it all, Benny is desperately trying to repair the damaged relationship with his son Fritz. As the connections between two dockets become frighteningly clear, the race to save the country from an international disaster is on, with stakes higher than a father’s bond with his son.