Paul Wood and his girlfriend, Talena, were just tourists in Sarajevo, a city still reeling from the aftermath of civil war. But an unexpected encounter makes them a desperate woman's only hope of escape. Now, to get her to safety, they must navigate through the minefield of warlords, criminals, and peacekeepers that is postwar Bosnia.

Pursued by brutal gangsters and unable to leave the country legally, Paul agrees to do a job for a shadowy group of people smugglers in exchange for safe passage. The smugglers seem friendly. The job seems harmless. But when he discovers the secrets seething beneath, the repercussions will propel him on a perilous journey around the world — from a warlord's compound in lawless Albania, through the jungles of Latin America, and toward an explosive confrontation at the extraordinary Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.

"Albanian smugglers, Bosnian guerrillas and Central American drug dealers populate Evans's colorful transcontinental storyof self-preservation and harebrained derring-do (after Dark Places), starring Paul Wood, an unemployed 29-year-old computer programmer. Paul, a Canadian living in San Francisco, and his beautiful Croatian-born girlfriend, Talena, attempt to save their fraying relationship with a trip to Sarajevo. (The year is 2003.) There, Paul morphs into an inadvertent action-hero when he rescues a South Asian boy and returns him to his family. In the process, Paul encounters Sinisa, the ruthless head of a multimillion-dollar people-smuggling ring, whom he turns to again when Talena's childhood friend Saskia needs his help getting to America. But there's a catch: Wood must design a 'hacker tracker' program for the deranged smuggler in exchange for Saskia's freedom. From Albania, where Paul works around the clock to complete the program, he, Talena and Saskia find their way home via Belize and Mexico (Sinisa embroils them in drug smuggling, too). Fast-forward three months, when Paul and his friends hunt down Sinisa and his goons at the Burning Man art festival in Nevada. Death and destruction ensue, of course, topping off this highly readable, inventive thriller,. Agent, Deborah Schneider." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Jon Evans has backpacked through China, Japan, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, New Guinea, India, Nepal, the Balkans, and, most recently, Iraq. Between journeys, he has worked for internet and software companies and now divides his time among America, Canada, and Europe.