From the bestselling author of First Blood comes a spectacular thriller, in which a former Navy SEAL and a Japanese samurai master are bound together in a terrifying past that never happened.

The novel features the characters Savage and Akira, executive protectors – no mere bodyguards but state-of-the-art defenders, an occupation also known as the "fifth profession."

Savage and Akira meet – seemingly for the first time – by Savage being dispatched by a Joyce Stone to liberate her sister, Rachel, whom Akira is guarding against that eventuality. Their brief clash triggers off memories of a previous meeting, where each believed he saw the other die in the course of a prior mission of protection together; memories that are quite obviously false, but that both believe to be entirely real.

The two join together to uncover a string of other falsified memories, taking Rachel Stone with them – thus fulfilling both protectors' missions; Savage's to retrieve her, and Akira's to protect her.