In the novel by Frederick Forsyth, already known to Soviet readers from “The Day of the Jackal” (1971), the action takes place today in the USSR, USA, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, France, Corsica... Nantucket Treaty between the USA and the USSR on arms reduction on the verge of a breakdown in connection with the kidnapping and death of the son of the US President. The conspirators include high-ranking Americans and Soviet Marshal Kozlov. At the center of the novel is the image of Superman, negotiating the ransom of the president's son, and then undertaking an investigation at his own risk. Among the characters in the novel are Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Kryuchkov and other prominent political figures. The writer once again confirmed his title of “king of bestsellers.”