John Altman's latest thriller features a dual narrative that tracks two simultaneous plot threads involving a captured al-Qaeda operative named Ali Zattout. Altman's prior novels have been described as "sharp and refreshingly literate" by the Chicago Tribune and "taut and lean" by Booklist. The Watchmen represents an exercise in the same sharp, lean musculature: his sparse prose is tightly woven and literate, and he eliminates the wheat from the chaff with ruthless efficiency. This is a stark tale of psychological warfare bubbling just below the surface of the "War on Terror," and Altman doesn't waste time with non-essential characters or plot devices as he strips the narrative to the bone.

Psychiatrist Louis Finney is retired and living alone with the ghosts of his past. As a former government researcher, he studied - and manipulated - patients with multiple personalities, in some cases attempting to "implant" or create additional personalities. Emotionally conflicted by his work, he quit working for the government; even years later he is still haunted by what he did in the service of his country. He is drawn from retirement by his former mentor (who is now dying). The government would like Finney to assist with the interrogation of Ali Zattout, a highly placed al-Qaeda operative. Initially, Finney is there merely to observe and offer insight; as circumstances change, however, Finney is suddenly primarily responsible for the course of interaction with Zattout.

Meanwhile, Zattout's capture has reverberated through the al-Qaeda hierarchy, and a mysterious assassin (described as "the ghost wind") is dispatched to kill him. The unnamed assassin takes no chances, however - he ruthlessly eliminates everyone associated with his hiring before he actually begins the assignment. He then embarks upon a carefully orchestrated plan to get inside the government "safe house" where Zattout is held.

The narrative follows these two men - Finney the interrogator and the unnamed assassin - as they pursue their parallel courses. Finney begins with mellow conversation in his interviews with Zattout but the terrorist really isn't all that interested in selling out his brothers-in-arms, a fact that becomes more and more clear as the conversations continue. After an effort to drug the terrorist into compliance backfires (Zattout turns the tables on Finney and gets the doctor to drink the drugged wine), Finney unleashes some of the more fearsome weapons in his arsenal: electroshock-induced "de-patterning" and "psychic driving," both intended to break Zattout on an elemental level and then allow for a rebuilding process in which the terrorist is far more compliant than before.

Meanwhile, the unnamed assassin's plans don't go smoothly: a young girl at a motel interferes with his reconnaissance mission, the feds are watching his maildrop, and his picture ends up on the front page of New York newspapers as a possible serial killer. Despite these setbacks, he remains committed to his mission and manages to overcome each problem in turn. Ultimately, all the players assemble for the final climactic struggle - one from which only a few of them will emerge alive.