The violent death of a journalist leads secret agent Gabriel Allon to Russia. Not to the grim Moscow of Soviet times, but a modern Moscow awash with oil wealth and in thrall to a new generation of rich Stalinists plotting to challenge an old enemy:

the United States.One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB colonel, whose global empire is built on a lucrative and deadly business.Kharkov is an arms dealer- and he's about to sell Russia's most dangerous weapon to aI-Qaeda. Unless AIIon can learn the time and place of delivery, the world will suffer its deadliest terror attack since 9/11.

The countdown to Armageddon has begun...