My name is Merri Walters. I'm twenty-seven years old. Two years ago, I suddenly went deaf.... My teaching career ended and my fiancé walked out. I survived–and learned to lip-read. I grew very good at it. Maybe too good. So here I am, two years later, starting my new life as a cold-case file clerk turned undercover agent for the police. My task: Infiltrate the mansion of a ruthless crime boss and read his deadly plans off his lips. My contact to the outside world: Detective Steven Barlow, a tough cop who's convinced I'm on a suicide mission. And in a way, he's right–because if I'm caught, I'll be dead without ever hearing the bad guys coming....