In Anne Perry's vividly imagined World War I novels, her talents "have taken a quantum leap"(The Star-Ledger)--and this brilliantly orchestrated finale is a heartstopping tour de force.

After four long years, peace is finally in sight. But chaplain Joseph Reavley and his sister Judith, an ambulance driver on the Western Front, are more hard-pressed than ever. Behind the lines, violence is increasing: Soldiers are abusing German prisoners, a nurse has been raped and murdered, and the sinister ideologue known as the Peacemaker now threatens to undermine the peace just as he did the war.

Matthew, the third Reavley sibling and an intelligence expert, suddenly arrives at the front with startling news: The Peacemaker's German counterpart has offered to go to England and expose his coconspirator as a traitor. But with war still raging and prejudices inflamed, such a journey would be fraught with hazards, especially since the Peacemaker has secret informers everywhere, even on the battlefield.