Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

`If we are right about this, the stakes are higher than anything I've ever faced. I don't know if we can handle it`. Four Albanian gangsters have infiltrated Edinburgh. They are smart guys, ruthless operators and deep undercover. MI5 are on their case and, unknown to DCC Bob Skinner and his men, they have set up a drug-dealing sting to flush the gangsters out. The resulting mayhem and violence throws everyone into confusion until the dust settles and they realise the gangsters are preparing a hit on a member of the Royal family - a certain Prince who is attending St Andrew's University. Meanwhile two high-ranking policemen mourn the loss of a son and a daughter in mysterious circumstances, and then another witnesses his son being abducted. Is someone taking revenge on the police force in a particularly brutal and callous way? Are the crimes linked? Quintin Jardine keeps you guessing until the end in this tautly plotted, powerful and utterly engrossing novel.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Alarms on all sides threaten Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner's (Stay of Execution) peace of mind. Albanian terrorists have infiltrated Edinburgh, a police officer is found dead near Edinburgh Castle, the first minister wants to take over the police force, and things aren't right at home. Much to savor. Jardine is also author of the Oz Blackstone mysteries. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Review

Jardine's 15th Bob Skinner police procedural opens promisingly, taking the reader inside the corridors of power in Scotland as an ambitious first minister plans to exert near-total control over the police force. While Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner makes a convincing hero, Jardine (Skinner's Rules, etc.) is less skilled at juggling his various story lines-the political struggle between Skinner and the first minister, the "accidental" deaths of children of high-ranking police officers and the hunt for Albanian terrorists. The denouement, which features a last-minute rescue of a British notable, will strike many as something out of James Bond, and only the subplot centering on a traitor within British intelligence redeems the novel. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Book Review

The Albanians are coming. Can DCC Bob Skinner save Scotland for the 15th time (Stay of Execution, 2004, etc.)? Well, sure, though it won't be easy. True, the invasion force numbers only four, but these are prime Albanian thugs, scary enough to have MI5 biting stiff upper lips. What precise nastiness do they have in mind? Major drugs, some think. Something worse, Bob Skinner thinks after the MI5 contingent briefs him and asks the Edinburgh CID for help. And while Skinner's eager to provide it, he's somewhat distracted by relationship problems. There's a love grown cold--Sarah, his unfaithful wife--and a love on the boil--Aileen de Marco, Scotland's newly appointed, deliciously sexy Minister of Justice. Still, Big Bob's had to cope with amatory distractions before, and the mantra remains intact: Business comes first. Rousing his talented band of dedicated cops--as often as not from illicit beds--he sets out with them to penetrate the Albanian enigma, only to discover there's a more pressing case closer to home. The children of two senior officers have been murdered, and a third has narrowly escaped. Who hates cops enough to seek such extreme vengeance? And is there any possible way in which the two cases can be connected? A heavy investigative burden indeed, but then that's what Big Bob's shoulders have always been for. Spirited entertainment. Jardine's randy blokes and birds in blue are reliable page-turners. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.