As Russia bulldozes itself into a new era, an American national dies in a Moscow isolation cell amid rumours of a CIA operation against Australia. The Russian president drops out of sight through illness, and it becomes clear that not everyone is eager for the old ways to change . . .
Pyotr Nikolaevich Kirov of the Special Investigations Department enters the fray with a reputation for being incorruptible. But every fibre of his moral integrity is challenged when he finds himself drawn into a complex tangle of Kremlin intrigue and counter-espionage. And a pack of party wolves prepared to use anyone and anything in their bid to reclaim power.
