Tom Nelson, cynical American expatriate "gone native" in China, stumbles into the path of the expansionist Japanese government's incursion into Northern China and is catapulted out of his world-weary apathy. Also, if not quite so innocently, caught in the gossamer but deadly web of Japanese plans is Eleanor Joyce, a woman on a mission, full of secrets, pure, bright, and lovely. Enter Mr. Moto, the suave and courageous Japanese agent—committed to serving his emperor yet "so very very sorry" that innocent lives must hang in the balance. It is he who brought Eleanor and Tom together—and now it is he who must try to save them.