Crux

Keith Johnson's name is engraved on the black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, yet he is not dead. Officially lost when his helicopter was downed by the Vietcong, he was actually never aboard it. He survived two decades in a Vietcong prison, the result of a betrayal by three men, one of whom was his closest friend.

For twenty years he lived in near-total darkness, sharing a cell crawling with rats, and he used that time to scheme. Now he returns almost like a spirit, determined to repay the three men. Killing them is not part of his design. Instead, he intends to dismantle their lives piece by piece, and their personalities suggest the job should be simple.

His carefully built plan, however, begins to slip out of his control, producing outcomes he never anticipated and would not have chosen. Crux follows a vengeance that spirals past its original purpose.