When an aristocratic old lady is brutally murdered in her English country home on the night before September 11, 2001, it will take all the resources of the FBI and Interpol to work out the connection between her death and a priceless Van Gogh, which is stolen that night.

But in the end, it is a courageous young woman who escapes from North Tower of the World Trade Center after the first plane crashes into the building, who has the foresight and determination to take on both sides of the law and avenge the old lady’s death.

The young woman, Anna Petrescu, takes advantage of being missing and presumed dead in the days after 9/11 to escape from New York City, only to be pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless assassin across the globe, from Toronto to London, to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Bucharest. But it is only when she finally returns to New York that the mystery unravels.

In his first thriller since The Eleventh Commandment, international bestselling author Jeffrey Archer takes the reader on a breathtaking journey, full of twists and turns, all leading back to the question of why so many people are willing to risk their lives to own Van Gogh’s Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear. And it’s not just because it could be worth one hundred million dollars.

杰弗里·阿彻是世界上作品最畅销的作家之一。

杰弗里·阿彻生于1940年。在当今英国，有着近乎传奇般生活经历的他算得上是一位不折不扣的明星。迄今，阿彻已创作了《末代沙皇圣像之谜》《天之骄子》等十多部小说，几乎每一部作品都畅销整个英语世界。阿彻曾11次荣登《星期日泰晤士报》畅销作者排名榜第一位，他的作品为他带来了巨大的经济收益和声誉。1992年女王诞辰纪念日，阿彻受封为爵位不能世袭的终身贵族，这也是对他成就的承认。截至2000年，阿彻小说在全球的总销量已经超过1.2亿册。著名的麦克米兰公司在2002年秋季成为阿彻的出版商后，单他的小说就已经卖掉了一百多万册。