The name on the computer screen is James Barbous Matlock. Vietnam veteran. College professor. He's Washington's choice to stop a far-reaching conspiracy, an undercover assignment destined to put Matlock's neck against the razor's edge of danger. And the faceless men in Washington don't care if it means savaging the women Matlock loves, or trapping Matlock in a maze of unrelenting terror. They care about just one thing: that Matlock is the perfect man for the job...for a reason that is disturbing, violent, and extremely deadly.