This thriller story concerns Ivan Samsonoff, a conflicted and newly retired "black ops" US intelligence agent. His old-school Russian father is dying of a broken heart, his only brother is missing from the military, and, to help a friend, Ivan has agreed to help locate Adam Tanner, a kidnapped candidate who has pledged to fight the corrupt San Diego City School Board. Ivan's unspoken agenda concerns Violetta, the love of his life, who is now married to the soon-to-be-confirmed City Schools Superintendent, David Shor. Further complicating his search, Ivan uncovers the fact that Chinese government operatives (with diplomatic immunity) have arranged Adam's kidnapping from a DC airport in order to protect a pending billion-dollar book deal for all of California. That deal hinges on San Diego City Schools accepting a seemingly innocent contract with the Chinese. Unknown to Samsonoff, the proposed Chinese textbook would contain a new deadly drug pressed into its pages. What follows is a race against an election day deadline, while an unwitting hospital staff in Pittsburgh tries to figure out what to do with an amnesic Adam Tanner, who has now been marked for assassination by the Chinese. Using "black ops" skills and associates, Ivan must covertly locate Adam and return him safely to San Diego in time. Moreover, the "ops man" still needs to discern what happened to his younger brother and how to reconnect with Violetta.