When Eddie Lieb, a bar pianist and retired professor has a chance argument with small-time racketeer Frank Devito and a young dancer named Arnold he is drawn into a dangerous political conspiracy that threatens to topple the federal government. The Lazarus Operation concerns the unraveling of a major political conspiracy as seen through the eyes of two ordinary citizens, Eddie Lieb and Fred Giammatti. Lieb is a recovering alcoholic, formerly a professor of chemistry and now working as a bar pianist. Through a chance encounter with the son of a right-wing presidential candidate and a small-time racketeer he becomes embroiled in a big-time political plot. Unable to do anything himself he turns to Fred Giammatti a middle-aged political columnist for the New York Times who was a friend of Lieb's father, Gus Lieb a retired sportswriter. Giammatti, aided by his protégée reporter Ted Laszko and his friend Detective Al Seidenberg, slowly uncovers the plot by a powerful collection of religious zealots who have managed to infiltrate all levels of the federal bureaucracy. Peopled by dangerous assassins and an assortment of quirky people including the President and Vice President the story builds to a crackling conclusion that eventually vindicates the American spirit.