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

Alice didn’t answer right away. She just kept turning the mug in her hands, absorbed by her thoughts.


“So,” she started again, breaking the heavy silence, “I told you how he was shipped to Iraq. Well, at the end of January, out of the blue, he calls me one night. It must’ve been about four o’clock in the morning, and at first I thought it was Isaac—my ex—because we’d just separated and he’d occasionally get plastered and drunk-dial me in the middle of the night to beg me to come back to him. Which didn’t exactly win me over, as I’m sure you can imagine.” Her small snort of laughter was almost fond. “So I pick up the phone ready to start bitching him out, and it’s Jake. Of course I’m thinking that he’s in Iraq still, because the time difference would explain why it’s so early, right? So I ask him what’s wrong, because there’s no other reason why he’d call me, not after all this time.


Chapter 103