In a remote country house outside of Moscow and in an underground sanctum near Washington, D.C., an ominous conspiracy is brewing. And Charlie Stone, a brilliant young analyst for the CIA, may be the only one who can stop it. Asked to investigate because of his uncanny talent for predicting the ways of the Kremlin, Stone must unravel an ingenious plan destined to destroy the hopes of a world almost - finally - free of the Cold War.

As he begins to lay bare the roots of the plot, Stone discovers evidence that leads him to the private archives of his own godfather, the legendary Winthrop Lehman, the confidant of FDR and Truman - and secretly, of Lenin as well. Suddenly Stone is caught up in a pulse-pounding chase across America and Europe and into the heart of Moscow, a race against time, to an unforgettable climax.