Kareem was an Afghan resistance fighter of the 1980s and was once on the CIA payroll. But now he's responsible for the murder of an American CIA agent in Pakistan, which may compromise an intricate, long-planned CIA operation to capture Osama bin Laden. CIA officer Paul Patterson, who ran Kareem as an agent during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, sets out to track him down. Patterson navigates a shadow land of intrigue in England, Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S., where truth and lies seem to merge. Meanwhile, Muhammad Atta and the other conspirators prepare their attack on the World Trade Center. The climax is a stunning reversal of everything that Patterson's quest has led him to expect. Peopled with Washington bureaucrats, old CIA hands who operate by their own set of rules, African rebels, diplomats, and assassins, this thriller captures the world of the CIA and the terrorists with the intensity John le Carre brought to the Cold War.