A retired assassin, Michael Shaeffer is living peacefully in England with his aristocratic wife. But after an attempt on his life, Shaeffer lures his pursuers to Australia before venturing to America to figure out why the mafia is after him again, and how to stop them. Four decades after Thomas Perry began his Edgar Award-winning Butcher's Boy series, this fourth outing could be Shaeffer's last, as he endeavors to evade the Justice Department and a new wave of contract killers who are ready to retire him permanently.