How do you protect a man with a price on his head? And if he's not innocent, is he even worth protecting?

Gunnhildur has been taken off police duties to act as bodyguard to a high-profile stranger. Hidden away in a secure house outside Reykjavík, the pair are thrown together - too close for comfort. But they soon find they are neither as safe nor as carefully hidden as Gunna had thought. As conflicting glimpses of the man's past start to emerge, the press sniff him out - and they're not the only ones interested in finding him . . .

As they move from safehouse to safehouse, Gunna struggles to come to terms with protecting the life of a man who may have the lives of many on his conscience. And as the friction grows between her and the visitor, Gunna realises they are increasingly out of their depth as the trails lead from the house outside Reykjavík to Brussels, Russia and the Middle East.

Praise for Quentin Bates

'Superior crime fiction set in Iceland... well constructed, well written and satisfying police procedural' The Times

'A meticulously constructed thriller, peopled with exceptionally convincing characters and shot through with black humour . . . as chilling as an Icelandic winter' S. J. Bolton