First to Blink

A man holds his wife and son at gunpoint. The domestic dispute sparks global attention. Why? Because the woman is a renowned scientist leading the fight against Parkinson’s disease. And the man is a prominent U.S. congressman.

What caused the popular statesman to crack? Why would he self-destruct and snuff out a bright political future?

FBI Special Agent Regan Manning may have a clue. She and her partner have spent months piecing together a murky trail of illegal bribes and were a day away from arresting Congressman Jon Haines. But the standoff forestalls the arrest and sets off a firestorm in D.C.’s explosive political environment.

Regan suspects a link to the congressman’s longtime mentor, a former U.S. defense secretary who still wields enormous power in Washington. Her relentless probe of the man, a vocal critic of the FBI, sets her bosses on edge—and lands Regan in a high-stakes standoff of her own.