When CIA agent Claire Saylor is told she'll be going undercover to pose as the dowdy wife of a stuffy academic who has posited a controversial new interpretation of the Quran's promise to martyrs, she assumes the job is a punishment for past unorthodox behavior. But when she discovers her team leader is Paul Bridger, another maverick within the Agency, she realizes that the mission may be more interesting than meets the eye—and not just for professional reasons.

At the same time, in Hamburg, Mahmoud, a recent Moroccan émigré, begins to fall under the sway of a group of radicals at his local Mosque. As his commitment to his new friends deepens, he finds himself torn between his obligations to them and the feelings he's developing toward a beautiful westernized Muslim woman.

Their lives intertwine as Claire learns the truth about the mission in Hamburg and as Mahmoud's relationship with the radicals pulls him into dangerous waters. And they both soon realize—but is it too late?—that the consequences of their actions could well determine the very future of the United States.