At the age of thirty-eight, Zeno Aristos is trying to find himself. Much to his girlfriend's chagrin, he's quit the New York City police force and can't figure out what he wants to do with his life. A job in security doesn't appeal to him. Bodyguard work leaves him cold. Only single-wall handball, with its street culture of razor-edged competition, seems to get his juices flowing. Then someone close to Zeno is kidnapped, and his search for that person leads him through a gauntlet of increasingly dark and cryptic forces, taking him from the sullen streets of gang-ravaged Brooklyn to the manicured cemeteries of suburban New Jersey to the slick corporate penthouses of midtown Manhattan. The deeper Zeno digs, the more certain he is that he's dealing not with a mere earthly adversary, but with an ancient entity steeped in the deepest and most malevolent of mysteries.
About the Author: Michael Jan Friedman is the author of nearly 70 books of fiction and non-fiction, about half of them set somewhere in the wilds of the Star Trek universe. His first book, The Hammer and The Horn, was published by Questar, an imprint of Warner Books, in 1985. In the next couple of years, he wrote The Seekers and The Sword and The Fortress and The Fire, completing what has come to be known as The Vidarsaga Trilogy, as well as the freestanding novel The Glove of Maiden's Hair. In 1992 Friedman penned Reunion, the first Star Trek: The Next Generation hardcover, which introduced the crew of the Stargazer, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's first command. Over the years, the popularity of Reunion spawned a number of Stargazer stories in both prose and comic book formats, including a six-novel original series. Friedman has also written for the Aliens, Predator, Wolf Man, Lois and Clark, DC Super Hero, Marvel Super Hero, and Wishbone licensed book universes. Eleven of his book titles, including the autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Ghost Hunting (written with SciFi's Ghost Hunters), have appeared on the prestigious New York Times primary bestseller list, and his novel adaptation of the Batman & Robin movie was for a time the #1 bestselling book in Poland (really). Friedman has worked at one time or another in network and cable television, radio, business magazines, and the comic book industry, in the process producing scripts for nearly 180 comic stories. Among his comic book credits are the Darkstars ongoing series from DC Comics, which he created with artist Larry Stroman, and the Outlaws limited series, which he created with artist Luke McDonnell, as well as tales of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Fantastic Four, and the Silver Surfer. He also co-wrote the story for the acclaimed second-season Star Trek: Voyager episode "Resistance," which guest-starred Joel Grey. Friedman lives with his wife and two sons on Long Island, where in his rapidly dwindling free time he enjoys running, kayaking, and playing (what else?) single-wall handball.