The Judas Kiss

From New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry, writing with William Nikkel, comes a new Luke Daniels adventure.

Magellan Billet agent Luke Daniels has been called to Washington D.C. by his uncle, former president, now U.S. Senator, Danny Daniels. Something bad is brewing. Senator Christopher McKee, a political enemy of Danny’s, and Konstantin Franko, the current totalitarian head of the Russian Federation, are conspiring against America.

It all centers on what happened in March 1867, when then-Secretary of State William Seward reached a deal with his Russian counterpart for the United States to purchase Alaska. The price? $7.2 million dollars. A mere two cents an acre. But though subsequently approved by both countries, the resulting treaty met with strong opposition. So not everything was included within the treaty’s public language. Instead there was a secret addendum, a failsafe the Russian Tsar had insisted be added that would, if ever breached, void the sale. A provision the United States has long violated. Now Russia wants Alaska back. But it needs the addendum to enforce its claim.

From the political maelstrom of Washington D.C., to the scorching Nevada desert, and finally into an aging museum in upstate New York, Luke searches for the lost document. Along the way he’s thwarted by treasonous Americans and dangerous Russians, everything leading to a deadly confrontation where alliances get tested and traitors are revealed—all through the Judas Kiss.