Don Winslow worked as a Los Angeles arson investigator for more than 15 years. He has also been a private investigator in Europe and America. Drawing on his extensive experience, Winslow has penned a searing novel fueled by international intrigue and murder. Once, Jack Wade was one of the best fire inspectors in the Orange County sheriff's department. Now he's an arson investigator for California Fire and Life. He lives by one rule: never let a case get personal. But when he sees the photograph of the dead woman in the ocean side mansion, he is pulled into a case that becomes very personal-and dangerous. Jack's investigation will take him from the burn marks on the floor to the highest levels of power in the insurance industry. As the evidence stacks up, Jack begins to feel the heat of a ruthless, multi-million dollar scam.