Calling for a Senate probe of Truman-era documents, Broc O'Neill is targeted by a high-tech criminal network. Barely escaping assassination, O'Neill teams up with Christelle Washington in a flight-and-chase investigation of mysterious financial transactions that takes them from the U.S. to Southeast Asia. Momentarily safe, they uncover the roots of a conspiracy extending into the U.S. judiciary, CIA, NSA, and Congress that preys on victims in hundreds of American corporations. Following abduction and attempted murder, the hunted become the hunters in a rapid-action comeback, assisted by a platoon of disillusioned Vietnam War veterans. The meaning of the book's title remains a mystery until the end. Narrated with a rich array of characters, plot surprises, and local color, Ironwood Ridge is a thriller in tune with the past quarter century of political conflict, ideological struggle, and government corruption.

BARRY WOOD, a Canadian by birth, is a naturalized American citizen with a doctorate from Stanford University. He teaches English literature, American literature, and interdisciplinary studies at University of Houston and has had visiting appointments in Canada, England, and Malaysia. Ironwood Ridge is his first novel.