Behind the well-known U.S. security organizations— the FBI and CIA among them—lies a heavily guarded, anonymous government agency dedicated to intelligence surveillance and to a highly specialized brand of citizen protection. Shock waves of alarm ripple through the clandestine agency when Washington, D.C., police detective Ryan Kessler inexplicably becomes the target of Henry Loving, a seasoned, ruthless lifter hired to obtain information using whatever means necessary. While Loving is deft at torture, his expertise lies in getting an edge on his victim—leverage—usually by kidnapping or threatening family until the primary caves under pressure. The job of keeping the Kessler family alive falls to a man named Corte, a senior federal protection officer known as a shepherd.
