Using all the expertise and knowledge gleaned from his political journalism, Matthew d'Ancona delivers a fast-paced thriller which takes the reader through a rollercoaster ride of global politics and personal betrayals. When Cambridge undergraduate Nick falls in love with an American student during a summer holiday in California, he fails to realize the far-reaching consequences this short but passionate affair will have on him. Years later, still haunted by memories and regrets, he continues to receive regular coded messages from the other side of the Atlantic. Is this a token of their ancient love, or is his Tabatha playing a much more dangerous game? As Nick is kidnapped by secret-service agents, his personal life spirals even further out of control, and he realizes he is just a pawn in the hands of obscure forces, and his former lover the head of a most dangerous network of anti-global terrorists.