American Bryan Paton has chosen the worst of times to join Hong Kong's top law firm. His client's daughter, Fiona Li, is dead, and he must bring the body home from Beijing. Aware that a tug-of-war rages between moderate and radical factions to fill the void created by Mao Zedong's death, Bryan has no way of knowing that his involvement with the Li family will land him in the thick of it.

Unknown to Bryan, General Zhu Fangguo, a central figure in the moderates' plot to restore Deng Xiaoping to power, is searching for Fiona. Bryan's connection to Fiona and, through her, to Zhu, ensnarls him in a deadly game of survival and a web of secrets closely guarded on both sides of the Hong Kong–China border for nearly thirty years.