The prototype of the hero of the novel, CIA special agent Mike Culley, was the famous Oliver North, the colonel who covered up the Reagan administration in the Iran-Contra scandal. But while Reagan rescued North, thereby strengthening his popularity, Mike Culley was out of luck. It was he who had to take over the CIA's secret financial operations during congressional hearings. The authorities, unable to keep their word, exchanged him as a pawn in a political struggle. His whole life collapsed. The wife committed suicide, leaving only her daughter, a student. For her sake, Kapley accepts the terms of a deal with his former colleagues in prison.

In exchange for “freedom in twelve hours,” Mike Kapley must find and destroy KGB Colonel Nikolai Lubanov, a defector from Russia.