AT 40,000 FEET UP... THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE.

A fatal crash on a rain-slick road and a brutal murder in an English village set off a deadly chain of events, leading from stormy skies over the Mediterranean Sea to an explosive confrontation on a remote airstrip in North Africa...

Only a handful of people know the reason why Kate Hood left the military in disgrace; now a contract pilot for a private jet company, she's looking for a second chance and a better life.

But to keep her secrets, she must take a last-minute assignment to fly a covert cargo out of the country to a non-extradition nation, with no questions asked.

The cargo is a prisoner who may be the key to a violent terrorist conspiracy - but he swears he is an innocent man, wrongly accused of crimes he played no part in.

And as Kate races through the night, on the ground a team of ruthless killers are hunting the people she cares about, threatening their lives to force the pilot to hijack her own aircraft.

But do they plan to liberate the captive - or execute him?

Trapped at the heart of an escalating crisis, Kate and her mysterious passenger must navigate the conflicting agendas of enemies and allies alike, on a flight into danger that neither of them may survive...

PRAISE FOR JAMES SWALLOW:

'Unputdownable' WILBUR SMITH

'Frighteningly credible' BEN AARONOVITCH

'Britain's answer to Jason Bourne' DAILY MAIL

'Explosive' IRISH EXAMINER

'Terrifyingly real' CLOSER