FROM FORMER GREEN BERET AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR JASON KASPER

For David Rivers and his team, the mission was supposed to be simple—retrieve a defecting militia leader and deliver him to CIA interrogators.

But nothing is simple in Yemen, where vast swaths of terrain are controlled by Houthi and Al Qaeda fighters. When they locate the asset, the team discovers why he has been deemed critical to their intelligence effort.

The defector has direct knowledge of the team’s top target: Erik Weisz, the shadowy figurehead behind the most catastrophic terrorist attacks since 9/11. And as it turns out, Weisz is currently in Yemen, traveling through Houthi territory with heavy security.

As David’s crew prepares for a follow-on operation to remove Weisz once and for all, they discover a web of contradictions. A sudden order to stand down leaves the unit questioning the motives of their CIA handler. With suspicious leadership and a deadly conspiracy looming, the team boards a military aircraft to infiltrate the most dangerous corners of a war-torn desert. David is convinced it will be their bloodiest mission yet—and within hours of being inserted deep into the badlands of Yemen, he and his team realize they are pawns in an exceedingly deadly game of chess.