Bannerman's Ghosts

The chillingly prescient subject of New York Times bestselling author John R. Maxim's remarkable new thriller -- which anticipates the development of unstoppable viral weapons -- is reassuring in at least one regard: It has threatened and angered Paul Bannerman.

The story begins not in Westport, Connecticut, where Bannerman and a group of his deadliest operatives have been trying to live otherwise normal lives, but in a fortified estate outside Washington, D.C., where the billionaire sociopath Artemus Bourne has taken delivery of a package. It was supposed to contain samples of horrific bio-weapons that one of his offshore firms created. Instead, the package held three severed heads. One belonged to the scientist who'd developed those weapons. The other two belonged to men who'd tested the virus on humans.

Bourne knows who sent him the three heads and why; it is an act of vengeance by a man long thought dead. He is out of Bourne's reach, but Bourne knows that man's one weakness -- a woman who is the great love of his life. If Bourne can find her, his problem might be nipped in the bud.

But Bourne's solution puts him at odds with Paul Bannerman, himself a friend of this woman. And Bannerman has a number of "ghosts" of his own, so-called because they, too, are thought to be dead and beyond the reach of the living. But none of them are beyond the reach of Artemus Bourne's deadly viral weapons. If Bannerman does not agree to stand down, anything in Westport that breathes will die.

This new Bannerman adventure, long awaited and much requested, is a heart-stopping tale ripped from today's headlines. It is also a tale of loyalty, of honor, and of a love that transcends life and death.

John R. Maxim is the author of the critically acclaimed thrillers Mosaic, Haven, and The Shadow Box and other highly praised novels, including Time Out of Mind, Abel Baker Charley, and the best selling Bannerman series. He makes his home in Hilton Head, South Carolina.