When a spy deep in the Kremlin contacts his handlers and mentions a code word for an insane Russian plan for winning a nuclear war, it sets off alarm bells in Washington.

A legendary CIA officer is sent to meet him. Former Special Forces and CIA operator Joshua Devlin is coaxed out of retirement to be his backup, with promises that the job will be little more than babysitting. But things go sideways, initiating a chain of events that throws Devlin back into a deadly world where failure could mean nuclear Armageddon.