The violent death of a journalist leads secret agent Gabrial Allon to Russia. Not to the grim Moscow of Soviet times, but a modern Moscow awash with oil wealth and in thrall to a new generation of rich Stalinists plotting to challenge an old enemy: the United States.
One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB colonel, whose global empire is built on a lucrative and deadly business. Kharkov is an arms dealer ÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂàand he's about to sell Russia's most dangerous weapon to al-Qaeda. And unless Allon can learn the time and place of the delivery, the world will suffer its deadliest terror attacks since 9/11.