It is the twenty-third book in a series of novels featuring the adventures of assassin Matt Helm.

It's up to Helm to stop this coup in its tracks, while simultaneously dealing with some deadly family-related issues of his own.

Meanwhile, in a storyline continued from The Annihilators, Mac finds himself in the middle of yet another revolution in Costa Verde.

Here, for once, Helm’s boss Mac takes an active part in the action and is the one captured in order to deal with a gang of kidnappers.

As punishment for a previous mistake in judgment, Helm is excluded from the real national security problem and exiled to Sweden, where he is kidnapped by a group who fear he may interfere with their plans.