British Intelligence operative Isabella Di Stefano Butterfield has been dispatched to Tokyo for a very special purpose. Until recently, Japan seemed immune to the Islamic-inspired terror attacks that swept the world after 9/11. But the 2015 beheading of two Japanese aid workers in Syria changed everything.

As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics approach, the race is on to establish a viable, outward-looking Japanese intelligence agency. Bella’s brief is to ensure this spy service is fashioned in the image of M16.

But before discussions even commence, Japan receives disturbing intelligence about a home-grown terror plot from an unlikely source - China. Bella is thrown headlong into a complex, multinational espionage operation, forcing her to walk a trip-wire of hidden agendas that sorely test her professional and personal loyalties.

"Warren Reed has a lifetime's experience in Asia and knows first-hand the world of modern spy craft. He has done listeners a favour by putting his knowledge to use in his fiction. This latest novel pulls off the trick of being brisk-paced and absorbing, while also conveying larger truths about the new power game in Asia. I listened to it straight through." (Jim Fallows, author of China Airborne and national correspondent for The Atlantic)