A man is murdered in a street in Istanbul and as a result of his death, Stephen Fletcher, alias Sefan Fettos, a British agent, and David Maxwell, a C.I.A. agent, become involved in a spy game on the chessboard of the Middle East. In their bid to foil a Russian threat they move first to Cairo, then to Athens, and finally into the remote province of Eastern Turkey. En route, Fletcher comes across Mustafa Kaddir who is purchasing illegal arms, he also becomes suspicious of a party of American officials. This is a chilling tale filled with the atmosphere of these turbulent countries.