The Marching Season

It is the first uncertain year of the peace process in Northern Ireland, a land ravaged by centuries of religious and political conflict. On a single night, a renegade group of Protestant extremists tries to turn back the hands of time with three savage acts of terrorism. Their goal: to shatter the peace and make certain Ulster remains forever part of the United Kingdom.

Retired CIA officer Michael Osbourne, the hero of Mark of the Assassin, is lured back to the Agency after his father-in-law, former U.S. Senator Douglas Cannon, is nominated to be the new American ambassador to London. When Michael discovers that the Protestant gunmen have marked Cannon for execution, he sets in motion a deadly contest of wits and deception, which will determine whether the peace in Northern Ireland will survive and whether his father-in-law lives or dies. What Michael Osbourne does not realize is that he is a pawn in a much larger game. Once again, Michael’s destiny is controlled by the Society, a secret order that uses its power and influence to foster global unrest for financial gain. And once again, he is matched against his personal bête noire, Jean-Paul Delaroche, the world’s most dangerous assassin, who slipped through Michael’s fingers at the climax of The Mark of the Assassin.