Western businessmen throng Moscow and even the

KGB, which once controlled the city with an iron hand, has lost control of Russia's new criminals.

Peter Ashton, sent to find whoever is stealing commercial secrets from the British embassy in Moscow, unmasks Elena Adrianova with ease. But having found her, he has to save her from the men who thought she was just another poor, pretty girl whose loyalty could be bought - and discarded.

There are breathtaking amounts of money at stake, and a ruthless criminal, his talent for murder honed by the KGB, has decided that Elena must die before she tells Ashton any more.