It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the most heinous act of bioterror the world had ever seen. Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health --- and his only hope of finding answers is a 12-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men.

When a viral video of an explosive terrorist attack on the Golden Gate Bridge reveals that a Federal witness long thought dead is still alive, the organization he'd agreed to testify against will stop at nothing to put him in the ground. FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson calls the only person on the planet who can keep her witness safe: Michael Hendricks. Once a covert operative for the US military, Hendricks makes his living hitting hitmen... or he did, until the very organization hunting Charlie's witness --- the Council --- caught wind and targeted the people he loves. He is now determined to take the Council down, even if it means wading into the center of a terror plot whose perpetrators are not what they seem.

Once a covert operative for a false-flag unit of the US military, Michael Hendricks was presumed dead after a mission in Afghanistan went sideways. He left behind his old life --- and beloved fiancée --- and set out on a path of redemption...or perhaps one of willful self-destruction. Now Hendricks makes his living as a hitman entrepreneur of sorts --- he only hits other hitmen. Not a bad way for a guy with his skill-set to make a living, but a great way to make himself a target.