"Former air force combat rescue officer Special Agent Clayton White now works for the Secret Service performing routine escort missions for politicians. These missions may not be quite as exciting as his time in the military, but Clayton's okay with that. It gives him more time to see his girlfriend, Veronica Hammond--an archaeologist who also happens to be the vice president elect's daughter. But Clayton's seemingly manageable new routine takes a startling turn when South African mercenaries target Veronica at an awards gala celebrating her work. After this attempt on Veronica's life, Clayton enters a complicated web of lies, betrayal, and dangerous government secrets. As Clayton gets closer to the truth, he encounters unexpected foes pitted against questionable allies. With enemies at every turn, the only constant Clayton can rely on is Veronica. But when the threat against her turns on him, too, he faces an impossible choice: love or country"--

Simon Gervais was born in Montréal, Québec. He joined the Canadian military as an infantry officer and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1997. In 2001, he was recruited by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and became a federal agent. His first posting was in Toronto, where he served as a drug investigator. During this time, he worked on many international drug-related cases in close collaboration with his American colleagues from the Drug Enforcement Administration. His career switched gears in 2004, and he was placed with a federal antiterrorism unit based in the Ottawa region. During the following years, he was deployed in several European and Middle Eastern countries. In 2009, he became a close protection specialist tasked with guarding foreign heads of state visiting Canada. He served on the protection details of Queen Elizabeth II, US president Barack Obama, and Chinese president Hu Jintao, among others. Gervais lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.