New Year's Eve in Scotland and for once Alex Rider is enjoying a normal life. But then he meets Desmond McCain, the dynamic chief of an international charity, First Aid, and what starts as a simple card game rapidly becomes a duel to the death. Suddenly Alex is in more danger than ever before and his life is threatened without his even knowing why. Things get worse when he confronted by a journalist who threatens to publish the truth about his life as a teenage spy. Forced to ask MI6 for protection, Ale finds himself being manipulated in a deadly game that could lead to the destruction of an entire East African country. Alone, out-numbered and with no way of escape, this is Alex's most dangerous adventure yet.