London, 1953. Harry Towers is a recently retired, and even more recently widowed, British intelligence officer. But he springs to action when hears that his estranged son Sean has disappeared in Tehran after writing a damning article about the involvement of government officials in the opium trade.

In Tehran, a city on the brink of a historic coup, Harry’s career as a spy soon proves perfect training for this much more personal mission as American, British, Iranian, and French players flit in and out of the scene. But as the first attempt at a coup in the city fails and foreign powers jockey for oil, money, and influence, Sean’s disappearance takes on a more sinister tone. Was he really taken in retribution for his reporting, or is this an attempt to silence a globally significant revelation he was preparing to make?

Or, most terrifying of all, does Sean’s disappearance have nothing to do with him at all? Has Harry’s past caught up to them all?