The December 27, 1985, terrorist attacks at Rome and Vienna airports organized by the Palestinian militant splinter group Abu Nidal Organization result in direct action by the British Intelligence Service-MI6. Their part-time consultant Ed Crowe travels from his Oakville, Canada home to search and destroy the ANO. His missions in Damascus, Syria, are hampered by a rogue CIA agent, and international relations involving the changing USSR and their recently elected leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, are at risk. Significant changes in his personal relationship with Carolyn Andrews, daughter of the head of MI6, and a budding relationship with a young lady from Oakville only add complications to the task at hand.