A spin-off of Penny's Inspector Gamache series, the titular character appearing in a minor role, the book was released October 12, 2021, jointly published by Simon & Schuster and St. Martin's Press.

[2] A novice U.S. Secretary of State joins the administration of her rival, a president inaugurated after four years of American leadership that shrank from the world stage.

A series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray, and the Secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most.

[3]The book project was announced on February 23, 2021, with the two authors' usual publishers distributing the work on October 21, 2021.

[5][6] It also appeared on Publishers Weekly's October 25 bestseller lists for Top 100 Overall and Hardcover Frontlist Fiction.