SIS officer Luke Carlton returns in the explosive, action-packed and unerringly authentic new thriller from BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, author of the acclaimed No.1 bestseller Crisis . . .Deep within a cave system at the Iranian military complex of Parchin, south-east of Tehran, and hidden from the prying eyes of Western satellites, scientists are working round-the-clock on a banned device. Acting on the orders of a renegade cell within the ultra-conservative Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, their intention is to propel Iran into the elite club of nuclear-armed nations - and seal its domination of the entire Middle East. Britain`s intelligence agencies know something is up - they have a mole inside the programme. Ready to hand over the information, he must first get out of Iran. Crossing the mountainous border into Armenia, he was due to rendezvous with MI6 agent Luke Carlton at a remote, snowbound monastery. But the mission goes bloodily wrong and Carlton must be extracted. And fast. Reeling from that fiasco, an increasingly desperate MI6 seize on an opportunity - to recruit a well-placed individual with unique access to the leader of the IRGC hardliners. Luke is chosen to bring this person in. Going into Iran undercover is dangerous enough but Luke is determined to redeem himself. But then a new nightmare begins: a senior British minister is snatched while on an official visit and the UK government is presented with a terrifying ultimatum. Suddenly, as the only agent inside Iran, it falls to Luke Carlton to head off what could lead to a cataclysmic new conflict in the Gulf . . . and the clock is ticking.