Two cold war spies and mortal enemies, Brandon Scofield from the United States and Vasili Taleniekov from the KGB, must set aside their differences and work in conjunction with each other to stop a mad plot from a group of killers known only as The Materese. Ludlum is at his globe hopping best here, trekking through Scandinavia, Russia, France, Italy, the US, and Corsica. There is a love interest for Scofield that is handled fairly well, and there is SO MUCH action that it serves to break up the gunfights and beatings. Scofield and Taleniekov are well fleshed out characters, and you will be rooting for them with the bullets and knives start flying. Suffused with loads of action and espionage type-stuff, this stands as one of my favorite Ludlum books.