This book was a bit different than most of Elizabeth Lowell's writings. more intense and I don't believe she has ever had one of her St Kilda writings, at least that I have read, involve so many antagonists where you couldn't really tell good from bad until the last few pages. I was somewhat disappointed in the ending. I think it could have continued a bit to explain more fully the reasoning behind the whole operation as it were. Emma Cross joins St. Kilda's Consulting. Her current mission is to track the yacht,"Blackbird," believed to be carrying a lethal cargo that will destroy a major American city . . . in just seven days.Emma's partner, MacKenzie Durand--a former special ops killer well-honed in the world's nastiest regions--is more dangerous and unpredictable than the worst enemy she's ever faced. And other eyes are watching "Blackbird" as well--cold and calculating, looking to alter the geopolitical balance through violence and terror.Mac, a professional transport skipper, brought the yacht to shore from its transport. The yacht is scheduled to be delivered to the commissioning yard north of Seattle. Mac steps in for his brother to pilot the yacht which moves into the Inside Passages of theCanadian waters, where it is being tracked from the shore. He and Emma are searching for the twin of Blackbird, named Black Swan, which disappeared.