Mako Sloane is a CIA legend, but his dizzying rise to stardom in Moscow is matched by his precipitous fall from grace after he discovers a secret that vested interests in both Russia and the U.S. want to keep quiet. Ten years after Mako’s mysterious disappearance, investigative reporter Max Crandall is writing Sloane’s unauthorized biography. Max’s research inadvertently dredges up ghosts from the past, and he finds himself the target of a manhunt as unidentified operatives try to derail his project. Max lures Mako out of self-imposed exile, and the two discover the truth behind a bizarre conspiracy that threatens to send the world spiraling into a superpower confrontation of unprecedented proportions..


Clabe Taylor is a veteran and former foreign service officer with more than twenty years of experience living and working in the capitals and boondocks of Europe and Latin America. He studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute and Spanish at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. After he left government service, Clabe worked for multinational corporations in Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia during and after the breakup of the USSR. He currently splits time between the United States and Central America where he surfs and takes care of his horses.