''Alluringly gritty'' TIME

''An extraordinary thriller'' Lee Child

#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with the second thrilling instalment in her Gunnie Rose series . . .

When Lizbeth Rose is hired onto a new crew to transport a crate into Dixie, she sees it as an easy protection gig. Dixie, the self-exiled southeast territory of the former United States, might be just about the last place she wants to visit, but the job itself is straightforward . . . until their cargo is stolen and her journey turns into a massacre.

Up against a wall in Dixie, Lizbeth has to go undercover with an old friend to retrieve the crate. Forces across three territories will be racing her, for what the crate contains is something powerful enough to spark a rebellion, if she can get it back in time . . .

Internationally bestselling Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse mysteries and Midnight, Texas trilogy) is at her best here, building a compelling world of this alternate history of the United States, where magic is an acknowledged but despised power.