From New York Times bestselling author James Luceno comes an all-new Star Wars adventure that reveals the action and intrigue unfolding directly before Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Mired in greed and problem, tangled in bureaucracy, the Galactic Republic is normally crumbling. In the outlying systems, where in fact the Trade Federation maintains a stranglehold on shipping routes, tensions are boiling over-while back the comfort and ease of Coruscant, the hub of civilized space and seat of the about Superstar Wars: Cloak of Deception Republic government, few senators seem inclined to investigate the problem. And those who suspect Supreme Chancellor Valorum of having a submit the machinations are baffled-especially when Jedi Professional Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi foil an assassination attempt over the Chancellor.

With the turmoil escalating, Valorum demands an emergency trade summit. As humans and aliens gather, conspiracies sealed with large sums of money operate rampant, and no one is completely above suspicion. However the greatest threat of all remains unidentified to everyone except three users of the Trade Federation who’ve entered into a shadowy alliance using a dark overlord. As the trio will be content with more money and fewer problems, Darth Sidious offers grander, far more terrifying plans.

It is a period that checks the mettle of most those who make an effort to hold the Republic together-none more so compared to the Jedi Knights, who’ve always been the galaxy’s best hope for preserving tranquility and justice. Yet despite their most valiant efforts, the conference will explode into fiery chaos beyond everyone’s most severe fears .