Did drug-trafficker Marcus Strenk die trying to escape from Minnesota's maximum-security underground prison during a blizzard? Or did he actually escape? Or is his disappearance the finishing touch of a smart FBI intel op against the top Mexican drug cartel? After all, why else would the Bureau spike the U.S. Marshals' investigation? But if they did, why did Strenk send a cheery postcard to piss off the prison guards? And why did the Bureau jump on the manhunt? Or was that just for appearances? Here are some hints: Strenk knows nothing of the op, the FBI knows nothing of Strenk's whereabouts, and the U.S. deputy marshal on the case only discovers the truth when he steps through the looking glass of Bureau espionage, where he finds an absurd moral landscape twisted and blurred by the crisis economics and politics that are re-shaping America today.