Blood Law. It's the foundation of all human relationships, as old as humanity itself. In the Balkans, it's been enshrined in written code since the Middle Ages.

For Elira Dukagjini, a stratiote, an Albanian mercenary who loves Shakespeare and composes blood haiku, it's what drives her-at least until she meets James Goodman, an ICE agent pursuing the same trio of sex traffickers one explosive March night. For James, a Special Forces veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who earned a degree in philosophy on his career path, it's not just about bringing criminals to justice. The sex traffickers have kidnapped Mirjeta Gjakova, the woman he loves, at the behest of a man he burns to pay back. For Mirjeta, a concert violinist who escaped her Balkan homeland as an orphaned teen, the strict accounting of Blood Law threatens to collect a heavy debt: her life. When Elira's blood hunt collides with James's pursuit of the kidnappers, what she chooses to do will change their lives forever, setting a precedent in the law governing human behavior.

Complex, gritty, and brutally human, THE LAST STRATIOTE alternates between dramatic action and a challenging, richly symbolic exploration of life, religion, and philosophy. It is a story informed by the intrinsic motives underlying our desire for love, lust, revenge, healing, and redemption.

"THE LAST STRATIOTE contains the relentless pace of James Patterson's novels; the political intrigue and pragmatic characters found in Daniel Silva's and Jeffery Archer's books; and the historicity, philosophy, and theology of Anne Rice's work. ... The result is a novel that conveys sensuality and eroticism that stimulate the libido and the mind."Lee Gooden, FIVE-STAR CLARION REVIEW

"A suspenseful, high-stakes tale," KIRKUS REVIEWS