Harry inadvertently found fame when his debut novel, A Man of No Importance (a fictionalized account of his first mission as a CSIS agent), created a media sensation that led to the uncovering of a vast conspiracy and brought about a number of sudden retirements—and several arrests—within the highest echelons of power in Ottawa. It also spelled an end to Harry’s CSIS career.
Now he’s being called out of retirement to help his former spymasters with a crisis that only he can resolve: senior SVR officer Lena Pavlova, the head programmer at the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, has been leading an effort to help a Trump clone named Billy Joe Cullivan become Canada’s next Prime Minister.
Under the cover of a book signing for the Russian translation of his novel, Harry is sent to St. Petersburg to track Lena down and put an end to the IRA’s interference. Harry’s uniquely qualified for the job; twenty-five years ago, when Lena was living and working as a Russian sleeper agent in Toronto, Harry was tasked with convincing her to defect while they were both attending a theatre workshop at Oxford. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams when the two fell in love; however, their nascent affair was nipped in the bud when Lena was nabbed by her countrymen and whisked back to Russia before CSIS could get her to safety.
Now, a quarter of a century later, ghosts from their respective pasts are awakened when Lena and Harry come face to face and, once again, Harry’s attempts to fulfill his mission bring about a good deal more than either of them bargained for.
