From a startling voice in fiction comes a savagely written thriller of greed, ambition . . . and terror. Alan White is a hot young writer-producer looking for the one megahit every Hollywood writer dreams about. He thinks he's found it with a new TV show calledThe Mercenary. The network has never seen anything like it. Sex. Violence. Nudity. This time they're taking it to the max and the Nielsen ratings are shooting through the roof. Alan couldn't be happier. Until the morning's headlines start to read like a rerun of last night's episode. Until The Mercenary begins to take on a terrifying life of its own. Until it becomes chillingly clear that Alan must cancel his creation--before it cancels him.