a devastating explosion leaves a wake of death and destruction in a suburban dallas high school senior agent gerry bolton and special agent jan hanson of the dallas fbi take on the case of the apparent bombing with little to go on no manifesto has been revealed to declare the perpetrators identity or rationale although terrorism is suspected a later grotesque crime adds a further burden of urgency to the fbis efforts aziz malawi a bright young muslim engineer is puzzled by a friend and coworkers failure to return to work from his vacation he decides to check on him at his apartment what he discovers sends him to the police where he is immediately viewed as highly suspicious is interrogated and subsequently bumped up to the fbi for further scrutiny it becomes clear to the fbi that aziz is not a person of interest in the bombing crime but quite the opposite a devout american patriot and a muslim who detests terrorism and terrorists he entreats the fbi to allow him to become an active part of their investigation which stretches from dallas texas to dearborn michigan aziz joins the hunt for the loose thread that will ultimately unravel the fabric of a crime with a much deeper meaning and farreaching impact than ever imagined his sleuthing draws him into a world of danger that challenges his every resource and that of his fbi handlers who are sworn to protect him as pieces of the greater puzzle begin to fit together a grieving father deeply struck by the tragedy of the crime surrounding his sons death receives new hope through an extraordinary gift brought to him by an unexpected benefactor he must first confront himself and stare down the evil that took his son and threatened to destroy his family in the process after a business career michael nathanson decided to undertake writing his first novel cries of the eagle fulfilling a lifelong ambition coming from a family of writers nathanson dreamed of one day telling a story himself one that could possibly also point to light and hope in the process he lives in texas with his wife jan and they serve together in the marriage ministry at their church