John Shannon is a petty thief on the run. A three-time loser framed for a murder he didnтАЩt commit, he knows the cops are closing in on him and that he is facing life in prisonтАФor death by lethal injection. Then, as if out of nowhere, a bizarre text message draws him to a meeting in the dark of night. A foreigner who calls himself the тАЬIdentity ManтАЭ offers Shannon an incredible chance to start again: a new face, a new home, a new beginning.
Soon, to his amazement, Shannon finds himself living a life he never dreamed possible. In a ruined city that is trying to rebuild, he finds work as a carpenter and a wood carver. He meets the beautiful Teresa Grey and for the first time falls in love with the sort of woman who could make him a better man.
It seems too good to be trueтАФand it is. Just as Shannon feels within sight of redemption, all hell breaks loose. It turns out this ruined city is crawling with corruption. There are crooked politicians, gangsters, dirty cops everywhereтАФand, for some reason he doesnтАЩt understand, all of them seem to want Shannon dead.
John Shannon has run out of second chances, and now he is running out of time. Moving through the darkness in the burnt-out shambles of a dirty town, he has got to ferret out the secret of his new lifeтАФand fastтАФif he wants to be left with any life at all.
Andrew Klavan is the author of such internationally bestselling crime novels as True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, DonтАЩt Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas as well as Empire of Lies and Werewolf Cop. He has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of AmericaтАЩs Edgar Award five times and has won twice. He wrote the screenplays to A Shock to The System, which starred Michael Caine, and One Missed Call, which starred Edward Burns. His political satire videos have been viewed by tens of millions of people, and he currently does a popular podcast The Andrew Klavan Show at the Daily Wire.