The gripping, fast-paced debut in the Max Strong thriller series.

What would you do if you found a locked suitcase in the woods?

Would you keep it? Would you try to open it?

What would you do when someone came looking for it?

Max is starting over. Fresh out of prison, he just wants to keep his head down, go to work, and maybe grab a cold beer at the end of his shift. He doesn't even care that the program stuck him in Essex – a nice, but nowhere small town. With his head already full of bloody memories, he'd like it just fine if his past and future stayed nice and quiet.

Too bad the present just got really messy.

A body in a tree. A missing briefcase. A Russian hit man. A DEA agent bent on revenge. Not to mention a sheriff with dangerous ambition and some pissed off bikers. Things are suddenly very interesting in sleepy Essex county. Bodies are turning up. Secrets are coming out. Questions are being asked.

It's not good being the new guy in a small town.