In this blistering conclusion to the nationally bestselling series, Burke is forced into a journey that will change the lives of the urban survivalist and his outlaw family forever.The only person Burke has ever called father, known throughout the underground as "The Prof,” is in a coma, barely clinging to life in an off the-books hospital. So when Pryce, a slippery man with government connections, offers the best medical services for the Prof and a clean slate for all concerned, Burke takes the contract without reading it. The two-year-old son of a Saudi prince has been kidnapped. A highly professional snatch; no mistakes, no clues, and no ransom note. Burke's job: get the kid back, whatever it takes. To do so, the ultimate man-for-hire must return to the day "Baby Boy Burke” was written on his birth certificate, and write, in the blood of his enemies, the final act of this story.

Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in the area of sexually transmitted diseases, a social-services caseworker, a labor organizer, and the director of a maximum-security prison for aggressive-violent youth. Now a lawyer and consultant in private practice, he represents children and youths exclusively. A native New Yorker, Vachss divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.