A half-starved young Russian man is smuggled into Hamburg at dead of night He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse round his neck He is a devout Muslim Or is he? He says his name is Issa Annabel, an idealistic German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation Soon her client's survival becomes more important to her than her own career - or safety In pursuit of Issa's mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous Tommy Brue, the sixty-year-old scion of Brue Freres, a failing British bank in Hamburg Annabel, Issa and Brue form an unlikely alliance, and a triangle of impossible loves is born Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the 'War on terror', the rival spies of Germany, England and America converge upon the innocents