Only Greg Rucka, the thriller genre's most fearless writer, would dare create a spy so edgy, so explosive, so extreme, she should be rated X.<br><br>Tara Chace was once the most dangerous woman alive. And now that the international spy network thinks she's as good as dead, she's even more dangerous than ever. <br><br>Only one thing could coax Tara back into the game: a chance to vindicate herself. The torture and execution of Dina Malikov has set off a cutthroat grab for power in strategically crucial Uzbekistan. Tara's job is to slip into the country and extract Dina's pro-Western husband and their young son before they are murdered—by his ruthless sister. <br><br>But there are a couple of wild cards in the deck, including a missing mobile weapons system that can bring down a commercial airliner, not to mention powerful political careers. Now, as she vanishes into hostile territory with a man who may or may not be what he seems, Tara is going to find out that the war on terror is more terrifying than anyone knows. For in a battle where betrayal is a conventional weapon, loyalty is a weakness, and anyone—even a child—is a legitimate target: it's every spy, every woman, for herself.<br><br>Combine a thriller that defies every expectation with a heroine for whom nothing is out of bounds, and the result is <b>Private Wars</b>, a suspense novel so explosively realistic, it should be classified.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>