Moving from the desolation of North Korea to the oak-and-leather preserves of Wall Street to the subterranean surveillance headquarters in the Pentagon, "By Dawn's Early Light" traces the journey of Sloane Ryder, a young, straight-shooting financial analyst who gets caught in the undertow of large-scale political maneuverings involving the United States' ever-sensitive relationship with China.

While Washington, Wall Street, and Beijing jockey for position in East Asia, Sloane uncovers a plot -- woven by some of the most eminent figures in government -- to murder the first woman president of the United States. As she frantically pieces together a series of strange but seemingly unrelated events, her trail leads her to the Handyman, a merciless killer-for-hire. Suddenly she finds she's playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse where each move could be her last.

"By Dawn's Early Light" is a Roman candle of interlocking conspiracies, Faustian bargains, and shadowy alliances among unlikely parties. A high-wire act of collusion and double-cross, its shocking plot twists will keep readers reeling till the very last pages.

Amazon.com Review
When financial analyst Sloane Ryder blows the whistle on an insider-trading scheme involving her boss at an investment banking firm, she also threatens the success of a traitorous plot hatched at the highest levels of government. Sloane gets fired after the corrupt CEO kills himself, but she's soon recruited by a mysterious government agency investigating payoffs to members of the president's inner circle--insiders who seek to thwart the president's China policy by any means possible, including murder.

This fast-paced, well-crafted thriller features the return of several characters from Shelby's earlier novels (Gatekeeper, Days of Drums), including intrepid Secret Servicewomen Holland Tylo and Hollis Fremont and their nemesis, the vicious assassin known as the Handyman. Without giving anything away, let it be said that the final turn in this twisty plot bodes well for Shelby's next book, as well as for the legion of fans who'll enjoy this one. --Jane Adams