Mysterious and terrible events that occurred at different times and on different continents did not at first attract much attention. In the late 1990s, a young au pair disappeared without a trace in Tunisia, leaving her seducer in love with her in the dark. Years later, a couple from France who came on vacation from France were killed with incredible cruelty in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Shortly thereafter, a young French accountant was kidnapped on a dark street in Paris. But when Amelia Levin, soon to take on the role of the first female head of MI6, went missing in the south of France, the British Secret Intelligence Service faced perhaps the most serious crisis in its history. Desperate not only to find Levine, but also to prevent the scandal from leaking to the press, senior British intelligence officials turn to Thomas Kelly, one of their disgraced ex-officers. Following a trail that takes him to France and then Tunisia, Kelly uncovers a shocking secret plot that could have lasting consequences for Britain and its allies. And he understands that only he alone can prevent a catastrophe...