In 1935, Nate Heller is hired to escort Amelia Earhart on a speaking tour due to numerous cut-and-paste death threats against her life. Heller suspects the threats are a stunt by Earhart’s publicity-hungry husband, and the detective’s growing closeness to the bisexual aviatrix leads to a steamy affair. Two years later, when Earhart embarks on her flight around the world—and mysteriously disappears over the South Pacific—Uncle Sam enlists Heller in a clandestine search of Japanese waters for the popular Earhart…and the top-secret plane she was flying.

Blending the unsolved mystery and historical facts swirling around Earhart’s disappearance with Heller’s sarcastic wit, Max Allan Collins delivers another riveting tale of intrigue and betrayal, taking Heller far from his native Chicago. As he investigates, Heller discovers a treacherous plot involving marital betrayal and the U.S. government. Heller’s secret undercover mission leads to Saipan where Earhart is believed to be held prisoner. But Nate’s heartbreaking attempted rescue leads the detective to return, many years later, to extract his final revenge.