When his marriage unravels, Simon Webb leaves his high-flying City job and moves to Berlin to run a fund managing the wealth of mega-Rich Russians. A revival of his childhood fascination with the old Berlin of Cold War espionage entangles him in a story in which Vladimir Putin seems to have been involved and which appears to have potentially serious ramifications in the present time.
In Berlin Simon meets an elusive woman with a body to die for, a complex past and a mysterious present. Among her circle of “friends” are computer hackers, individuals with far-right agendas and one loner who shares Simon’s interest in Cold War spies.
On the surface, Simon’s new life in Germany is care free and good. But gradually he is caught up in another world: a world of deep fakes, Russian assassins, far-right extremism, and terrorists using artificial intelligence to pilot a drone attack in an urban street. A rogue video game surfaces from the dark web and emerges into the real world.
Before long Simon is on the run, fleeing for his life.