Book excerpt: A young drug runner gets revenge on a crime syndicate in this novel of deception and international double crosses from an Edgar Award–winning author. By the time David Hanna Shaw is shuttled off to an Ivy League school by his preoccupied mother, the brilliant young linguist is already fluent in a half dozen languages. He’s also a quick study in international swindling, deceit, drug smuggling, and currency profiteering. That’s what comes from having been dragged across every European capital by a mendacious diplomat father. Then, one day, innately unsettled and anxious, David suddenly disappears from campus. Finally on his own and living only for himself, David heads back to Europe, where he becomes a professional drifter, taking on odd jobs as everything from a brothel handyman in Paris to an occasional courier for a cadre of smugglers in Amsterdam. Swayed by the cash, and a beautiful new lover, David has found his niche—only to be betrayed by his syndicate bosses and left for dead. Now, David’s only thoughts are of revenge. But for a smart man like David, murder is too common. The payback he has planned is an intricate game of deception, multiple identities, and psychological torture as ingenious as it is devious. And it should be. After all, David has been taught by a master.