Amaya Bajaratt is beautiful, elusive, deadly - and she has set in motion a chilling conspiracy that a desperate government cannot stop. An accomplished assassin and mistress of disguise and deception, she has set in motion the boldest act of terrorism yet conceived. Tyrell Hawthorne was a naval intelligence officer - one of the best - until the rainswept night in Amsterdam when his wife was murdered, an innocent victim of the games spies play. Since then he`s been sailing charters in the islands. Now he`s called out of retirement for one last assignment. For Hawthorne is the only man alive who can track down the world`s most dangerous terrorist. Now, with his life and the life of the President hanging in the balance, Hawthorne must follow Amanya`s serpentine trail, a path of seduction, betrayal, an instant death. Racing from a millionaire recluse`s fortress to the social whirl of Palm Beach and from the Oval Office to treacherous Caribbean waters, Hawthorne will uncover a sinister network of well-placed men and women who exist to help this consummate killer - and the shattering truth behind the "Scorpio Illusion".