The Boston Institute for Architecture and its nonagenarian dean, Angel Piscara, are growing old together but an unholy alliance of arrogant architects and an unethical developer with Russian mob ties has other plans for both. Architect Ben Holt struggles to save the venerable school and his old friend from the grave danger that threatens them-while battling for the soul of his firm and life of his beloved wife. * * * Ben Holt grew up in the Brickyards, a tough urban neighborhood north of Boston. His rise to the head of a huge, international architecture firm and the chairmanship of the Boston Institute for Architecture board was aided by three men-Angel Piscara, Pascal Satart and Marcel Aubrey-and by his French fashion-designer wife, Claudine, who is pregnant with their fourth child. When the very existence of the BIA comes under assault, the attackers first appear to come from within. Soon, however, the international scale of the attack becomes clear and the cast of characters grows to include federal agents, former Colombian drug lords, Russian mobsters and Ben's missing, maybe dead, mother-in-law, in addition to Morris Owen Sather, a greedy and arrogant architect plotting the demise of the BIA for his own gain. In the midst of her pregnancy, Claudine is diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer. Haunted by the thought of losing his wife, Ben works tirelessly to find a treatment that will save her. His quest brings two women he never expected to see again back into his life-his erstwhile high-school love, Annie, and her best friend, Diane, now the wife of the researcher who may save Claudine's life. When a few senior staff members of Ben's firm plot a coup, Ben finds himself fighting a multi-front battle: saving Claudine, saving the BIA and re-taking control of his firm. Using his design skills and his street instincts, Ben manages the battle to its thrilling climax-a climax with a high body count.
