When Paul Brenner gets an email from Colonel Karl Hellman asking to meet him, he has no idea what it is about. But he is certain of one thing: it's bound to be trouble.
Hellman was Brenner's commanding officer in the army's Criminal Investigation Division. But that was before Brenner's inquiry into the murder of Captain Ann Campbell - the "General's Daughter" - forced him into early retirement. Which makes Hellman's request for such a meeting at the Wall, Washington's monument to the Vietnam dead, all the more intriguing.
The Wall contains the names of all the soldiers killed in action during the Vietnam War - with a single exception. One of the soldiers, a young lieutenant, didn't die in battle: he was shot by his captain. Hellman wants Brenner to go back to Vietnam to find the only witness to the crime: a former Vietcong soldier called Tran Van Luyen.
A death wish, survivor's guilt, a desire to live life on the edge - Brenner doesn't know why he's agreed to help Hellman out.
