Cobra is an agency, established by the five principle English-speaking democracies, which operates on the fringes of legality to assassinate those who commit crimes against humanity, but are beyond the reach of the law.

Harry Bauer is Cobra’s best operative. But when Colonel Jane Harris and Brigadier Alex ‘Buddy’ Byrd call him to do a job, that job is not on the fringes of legality, it’s downright murder, pure and simple.

He is to find a civilian hiding out in remote, south-east New Mexico with a motorcycle gang, and he is to kill him. This is not a political dictator, a general guilty of genocide or a despotic tyrant. This is a private, American citizen.

If he takes the job Cobra cannot support him, provide back up or hardware, nor can they extract him if the going gets rough. If he takes it, he takes it alone.

But when Harry finds out what this man has done, and how the invisible tendrils of his evil have spread, Harry cannot decline. This is a job he must do, even though it will lead him to the very doors of death.