In this third novel in the Lucas Hamilton series, Lucas is assigned to an undercover role behind the Iron Curtain in Hungary. It is 1960, four years after the failed Hungarian revolution; and the resistance movement, 1031, is reorganizing under an enigmatic leader known only as “Stephen.”  When 1031 manages to get a message to the CIA asking for help, Lucas is sent to find out if the request is legitimate or a KGB counter-intelligence operation designed to draw the CIA in and ‘Stephen’ out.

CIA Director Strickland tells Lucas to “get in, get the information, and get out.” But the assignment is complicated by the fact that the CIA knows nothing about 1031, Stephen, or events in Hungary since the revolution.

It is even more complicated for Lucas, who must deal with memories of his father’s assassination, and his harrowing childhood escape from Hungary, along with new threats from agents, double-agents, spies, informers, and the dangerous, dark haired, dark-eyed Zsofia, who puts a gun to his head and a hold on his heart.