1995 NY: Little, Brown. First edition, first printing, new/unread in a flawless dustjacket, remainder marked. Shunted aside by political infighting at Special Branch, Frank Pagan returns from bureaucratic exile to meet an old nemesis and tackle the most dangerous investigation of his career. Carlotta is a chameleon, a seductive assassin whose twisted identity shifts like a mirage, and she has long held a special fascination for Pagan. But Carlotta is just a pawn in a greater game played by the Undertakers, a shadowy brotherhood of powerful men dedicated to sowing the seeds of war around the world and taking their profits from political chaos. At their center is Tobias Barron, an exquisitely elegant philanthropist who moves easily in the most elite international circles and who knows how to respond to Carlotta's dangerous fantasies, turning them to his own use. Pagan has never played by the book, and he isn't about to start now. From London to Venice, from Russia to New York and South Africa, Pagan must feel his way through a tangled maze of global violence and personal vendetta.