Unfortunately, when Stone wanted to quit the unit, his superior wasn’t agreeable, so he has spent the last 30 years under the radar.
Stone has just executed a long-awaited revenge on those who grievously harmed him years before, taking out two high-level men in the spy network - a senator and the head of intelligence. And he is on the run, with the CIA not far behind in pursuit.
The novel runs on two parallel tracks - Knox’s pursuit of his quarry, and Stone’s bizarre journey to a safe haven in Divine, Virginia. But it turns out that Divine is not the idyllic town as its name suggests. In fact, the coal-mining town is rife with secrets, drug-addicted coal miners whose bodies are sorely damaged by their work, a string of mysterious deaths, and the looming presence of a high-security prison built on the site and remains of a tragic mining accident.
Meanwhile, Knox is slowly closing in on his prey. In an unexpected meeting of violent events, Knox and Stone come face to face, suddenly becoming partners in survival as they are swept up in a criminal operation that doesn’t bode well for strangers.
If one can suspend belief, then this is an entertaining ride, although much of the action is abit over the top, featuring a sadistic warden, a snake-infested mine shaft, thugs wielding baseball bats, and the ultimate villain, Hayes. It’s hard to imagine that this wild bunch, Oliver Stone included, could survive many more of these action-packed adventures of good versus evil, but I believe Baldacci probably has a few more up his sleeve before he puts the Camel Club and its mentor out to pasture.