Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier trained at the Duke of York's Royal Military School, is a night manager at the Hotel Meister Palace in Zurich.

Hamid's mistress, Sophie, was a French-Arab woman who provided Pine with incriminating documents about Roper, asking him to forward them to the Egyptian authorities.

He is approached by ex-SIS Chief Leonard Burr and senior civil servant Rex Goodhew, who are planning an elaborate sting operation against Roper.

Pine fabricates a criminal identity and cover story, then wins Roper's confidence by "rescuing" his son from a phony kidnapping orchestrated by Burr.

Roper recruits him into his organisation, in preparation for a large illegal arms deal with a Colombian drug cartel.

Roper has agreed to supply the cartel with military-grade weaponry and training in exchange for a large shipment of cocaine.

Corrupt factions within both the CIA and British intelligence are profiting from the illegal arms trade and mount a counter-operation called "Flagship".

"[2] The Night Manager features the re-appearance of Harry Palfrey, the Legal Adviser to the British Secret Intelligence Service, who first appeared in The Russia House.