"To those who don't really know her, Kate Henderson's life must seem perfectly ordinary. Civil servant, wife, parent of two teenagers, daughter of a sick and aging mother . . . But she's also a senior MI6 officer, and right now she is nursing the political equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Kate's mission to bug a Russian oligarch's super-yacht in Istanbul has yielded the startling intelligence that the British Prime Minister has prostate cancer--and that one of the leading candidates to replace him may be a Russian agent of influence. Is this "intelligence" reliable--or is it an attempt to create chaos within the British hierarchy? Kate's bosses have their doubts. But when the Prime Minister suddenly announces his resignation, the hunt for the spy begins in earnest. It's a nightmarish task, made infinitely worse by the revelation that there may be another mole--codename Viper--at the heart of the Establishment. As the tension mounts, an operation that looked as if it might cost Kate her sanity appears poised to do much, much more than that. With her reputation to uphold, her family hanging by a thread, and a leadership election looming, Kate is quickly running out of options--and out of time"-- Provided by publisher.