Author John Sager's alter ego Robert Oxner has been asked to return to Moscow for a second tour, this one with his wife Natasha, and this time as the CIA's Chief of Station. Not long after their arrival, he realizes that his staff is quite able to take care of things, allowing him and his wife to take their first-ever tour of Cairo, Egypt, where the couple treats itself to the historical wonders of that ancient land: the Great Sphinx, the pyramids and the High Aswan Dam and the Suez Canal.

But it's not all fun and games. He and his Moscow staff are well aware of the activities of one of Moscow's most prominent oligarchs, whose relationship with Vladimir Putin eventually leads to the couple's awareness that the Russian leader may be on his way out.