"The Sith always betray one another. . . . I'm sure you'll learn that soon enough.”
The overthrow of the Republic is complete. Absolute power now rests in the iron fist of Darth Sidious-the cunning Sith Lord better known as Emperor Palpatine. But more remains to be done. Pockets of resistance in the galaxy must still be defeated and missing Jedi accounted for . . . and dealt with. These crucial tasks fall to the Emperor's ruthless enforcer, Darth Vader, who in turn has groomed a lethal, nameless Sith apprentice to secretly dispatch the last of his masters' enemies. This acolyte's journey will take him across the far reaches of the galaxy and test him with shattering revelations that strike at the very heart of all he believes, stirring within him long-forgotten hopes of reclaiming his name . . . and changing his destiny.

Sean Williams is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of more than seventy published short stories and thirty novels, including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance. He is a judge for the Writers of the Future contest, which he won in 1993. He is also a multiple winner of Australia’s speculative fiction awards and is the recipient of both the Ditmar and the Aurealis for The Crooked Letter, marking the first time in the history of the awards that a fantasy novel has won both.