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

There were no windows here, which meant there was nothing but steel mesh, a waist-high railing, and faith in Canadian architecture to keep people from hurtling to the ground over five hundred and fifty meters below. It wasn’t that Gabe was afraid of heights, exactly, but he figured looking down from something as tall as this would make anyone nervous.


Well, anyone who hadn’t been an Army pilot. Jake had been grinning like a kid from the time they got into the glass-walled elevator, gleefully watching the landscape shrink below them as they went up. The way they’d changed altitude so fast made Gabe a little nauseous, but he was fine as soon as they’d stopped moving. And as long as he didn’t get too close to the rail.


“I think I can see Niagara Falls,” Jake said, as if Gabe’s question about Indiana had been serious. He looked at Gabe, still grinning. Gabe was sure he hadn’t seen Jake this happy since they’d met. “This is awesome. Thank you.”


Chapter 82