of Europe--unless Elena Standish can rescue an ingenious scientist from Hitler's clutches--in this action-packed suspense novel by bestselling author Anne Perry.

"Unbearably suspenseful . . . pushes the envelope and succeeds on nearly every level."--Bookreporter

It is the summer of 1934, and Hitler is nearing the summit of supreme power in Germany. When Britain's MI6 gets word that a German scientist has made a key breakthrough in germ warfare, they send Elena Standish on a dangerous mission to get him out of Germany before he's forced to share his knowledge and its destructive power with Hitler's elite.

But the British soon learn that the new head of Germany's germ warfare division is an old enemy of Elena's grandfather Lucas, the former head of MI6. And he's bent on using any means to avenge his defeat at Lucas's hands twenty years before.

What starts as an effort to save Europe from the devastation of disease becomes an intensely personal fight. As Elena and the scientist make their way across Germany, they confront not only the Gestapo but also a group of unpredictable Nazi supporters. With Elena's every decision challenged, this compelling thriller takes a searing look at what it means to make the right choices in a world rife with so much evil.