Stone Barrington has returned to Paris to attend to some business concerns, and finds himself embroiled in high-stakes trouble on both sides of the pond. An old enemy is still in hot pursuit, and this time he might have a powerful local resource on his side: a gentleman with his own axe to grind against Stone. And back in the United States, the swirling rumour mill threatens to derail a project of vital importance not just to Stone but to the nation.