As the story begins, Jim is called to make a very dangerous dive in deep waters within Cuban borders to an old sunken Soviet submarine, to retrieve a tiny book.  A book with codes out of date by twenty years or more. The mission almost goes all wrong when the pleasure craft is boarded by Cuban military; Jim is saved by a mysterious woman who seems to know his mission.  Jim is aided in his missions by another operative, a woman he has never met but who is his best friend.  She is the voice in his ear guiding his missions and often saving his life.  Her name is Angel. 

The mysterious woman, Nadia, shows up again in his boss’ office with a fantastic story and a plea for American assistance.  A cold war computer is still active and with the potential to plunge the entire world into a nuclear winter should it decide, on its own, to deploy every missile in the now-defunct Soviet arsenal.  And they are all, of course, aimed at America.  It was a last-ditch defense of the Soviet Union; one in which they’d get the last word if America ever launched against them.  But these missiles are scattered all across Asia, many in countries that are now independent from Russia.  Nadia explains that she is on a mission to shut down the computer; but secretly, since many in her government still wish the system to continue operating. It seems to be in the best interest of America, and the rest of the unknowing world, to assist her.  She wants an American witness to know the deed is done.  At first, Jim is denied the mission as he is on the verge of proposing and soon marrying his love.  But when he arrives home with the ring, he finds Julia leaving with packed bags and no explanation beyond the stress of not knowing where he is or if he’ll come home from each mission.

Unable to stay home and consumed with anguish over the separation, Jim begs for the mission.  The first part of Nadia’s mission is to pick up a computer hacker who will be able to disable the launch codes.  Their travels take them to an untracked desert in Kazakhstan and a hidden bunker under a secret city.  It had been a strenuous trek with its own hidden traps – mainly the growing sexual attraction between Jim and Nadia; an attraction that Jim desperately tries to ignore in his attempt to remain faithful to Julia. 

The mission seems to be successful, the computer is disarmed. But then they are assaulted by Russian troops who claim to be hunting a terrorist – Nadia.  Jim is captured and tortured.  Just when it seems he’s taken all he can take and his breaking point is reached, he has an unlikely rescuer – a Russian officer.  And he is offered another point of view – possibly the real truth.  And the truth is: he was played.  Nadia’s real intent was to steal all the launch codes for all the missiles.  But Jim still has doubts about her intention, what her real goals are and whether the Russian government is telling him the truth.  But his only chance to remain alive and the torture stopped is to help the Russian government find and stop Nadia.  And on top of that, he receives a secret order from his own boss – kill Nadia, no matter what.  If he kills her, he kills someone who has a claim on his heart, his Russian captors will not be happy and he may never leave their prison, any maybe, just maybe, her true mission is more important that he knew.

This was a fun, fast read.  It was well-plotted and I like all the characters.  They were interesting and flawed.  I’m especially intrigued, of course, by the voice of Angel.  Since Jim doesn’t even know who she is, we don’t either.  I’m sure at some point in this series, we’ll learn more of her as Jim does.  It may be worth the trip just for that.  The pace was fast but not enough to lose me.  I thought I saw the hand of Nadia in causing Julia to leave Jim in order to keep him on the mission but the closing scene belied that.  Now I don’t know.  And I’ll probably have to pick up the next book to know.   ~~ Catherine Book