CIA checkmated . . . A defecting oligarch meets a grisly death in London over a game of chess. CIA investigator Jayne Robinson is sent to Moscow on a high-risk mission to find out why. And the US president prepares for a crisis summit as Russia grabs a chunk of Ukraine.

The dead oligarch is apparently ready to pass on top secret information about the Kremlin's increasingly hostile plans and strategy. But he never gets the chance. Operative Robinson is dispatched to Moscow to extract information from a highly-placed asset in Russia's foreign intelligence service. But the operation does not go to plan, and Robinson is left in a desperate battle not just to get what she needs, but for her personal survival. The ensuing game of diplomatic chess becomes highly personal for Robinson as she swiftly learns it's impossible to know who to trust—either on the other side, or on her own.