Mikhail Gorbachev is kidnapped while on a state visit to the United States. The Soviets are outraged (or so they want us to believe); the American President (whom readers will recognize as a certain vice president come to power) responds to the news by saying, "No kidding?"; and the FBI and CIA, as usual, are squabbling over who's in charge of the investigation. As international relations reach a critical pitch, veteran CIA agent Sean Brennan is tapped for the most important assignment of his life: to locate the missing Soviet leader and free him before the world power structure disintegrates.