A vacation in Venice that was grim business. A girl constantly beside him who wasn't his. How the hell had he walked into this upside-down world? New York drama critic Bill Fenner arrives in Paris, only to discover that his coat has accidentally been switched with another - and that he is now $100,000 richer. But when the US Embassy refers him to NATO and the CIA, what began as a seemingly simple case of mistaken identity becomes something far more lethal. Following the trail to Venice, Fenner must learn to play a deadly game with the highest stakes, against communist opponents plotting an assassination that threatens to undermine the balance of Europe. Accompanied by a woman he cannot have, he soon discovers that the key to stopping his enemies lies in his own past...