Connor Stark was a pariah, a former naval officer whose career came to an unceremonious end after a court-martial resulted in a dishonorable discharge. As head of a private security company, he was determined to leave his past behind until murder, politics, and Middle East instability prompted his unexpected recall to active duty. Set against a background of modern piracy in the Gulf of Aden, the story begins as the new American ambassador to Yemen, CJ Sumner, is assigned to negotiate access to the oil fields off the island of Socotra and enlists Stark’s help countering pirates who are capturing ships at will off the Horn of Africa. Meeting with resistance to her diplomatic overtures, Sumner recruits Stark as her defense attaché because he knows the region. When Stark sets up a meeting with the owner of a Yemeni shipping company and the ruling family, he uncovers a greater threat to region and the country. Against this backdrop, Diplomatic Security agent Damien Golzari is investigating the death of the deputy secretary of state’s son when he stumbles upon an illicit drug trade involving Somali refugees in the United States. His probe leads him to Yemen. Stark and Golzari are forced to become unwitting allies when they discover that their mysterious roads lead to one source.