When a potent firebomb destroys part of an art gallery in an exclusive London district, FBI Profiler Karen Vail is dispatched to England toassist Scotland Yard in their investigation. But Vail soon discovers that at the heart of the bombing lies a 440-year-old manuscript that holds clues toEngland's past-with dramatic political and social implications. The manuscript's content is so explosive that a group of political radicals is bent on destroying it at all costs.

The trail leads Vail to a notorious fugitive who has escaped law enforcement for decades-and who appears to be planning a major attack on Londonand the United States. When Hector DeSantos, a covert operative for the US Department of Defense, turns up in England and takes actions that threaten Vail's life, she finds herself on the run from the MI5 Security Service, Scotland Yard, and a group of internationally-trained assassins-all determined to silence her...all tightening the net to ensure that she's got no way out.