Toronto, Canada, 2006. A few months after the worst year of the Iraq war. Gabriel Navarro splits his time between his job slinging ink at the Atlantis Ink tattoo parlor, and working on his master’s degree in fine art. Gabe is twenty-two, sure of his beliefs and his artistic integrity, and na?ve enough to think he’ll never have to compromise. And then one night Jake MacLean walks into the shop and changes everything. Jake Maclean is twenty-eight and a veteran American Army pilot. He's been staying with his ex-pat sister in Toronto while he tries to get his life in order. The problem is, he can't. After his disastrous final mission in Iraq, he's overcome with anger and survivor’s guilt, trapped in a losing battle to atone for a failure he’s sure can never be forgiven. Left without hope, he decides to have his memory of the mission tattooed on his back, with the condemning words: God Will Judge Me. He doesn't expect to fall for the tattoo artist. Gabe falls just as quickly and deeply for Jake, though Jake's reluctance to talk about what happened frustrates and worries him. Gabe knows Jake isn't doing well, but accepting Jake’s claims that he's "fine" is far easier than dealing with the frightening truth. But soon it’s horribly clear Jake can’t control his panic attacks or flashes of violence, and he's getting worse. If Gabe can’t help him face his demons, Jake is headed for a crash -- and there’s every chance he’ll take Gabriel down with him.

Black Hawk Tattoo

Jake reached under the pillow and pulled out his dog tags, moving the metal rectangles until he freed the small cross between them. He hadn’t prayed in any formal way in months, not that being in a messy bedroom wearing boxer shorts could really be considered “formal.” But Jake sat on the bed with his head bowed, holding the cross in his hand with his dog tags and the chain dangling, and thought about what he wanted to say before he spoke.


“Thank you, Lord,” he began finally, and with his eyes closed, he could almost imagine the words drifting up to heaven. “Thank you for sending me Gabriel. He’s a better man than I deserve, and to be honest, I don’t know why he puts up with me, or why you led me to him. But…I can sleep here. Maybe because he woke me out of a nightmare. I don’t know. I just…I just want to be with him.


Chapter 64