In a world of shadows and deception, the deadliest moves are made in plain sight.
Former MI6 operative Andrew Sterling wanted nothing more than to drown his past in the bottom of a bottle. But when his friend and colleague is executed in the mountains of Bulgaria, Sterling inherits both a deadly secret and a target on his back.
Now hunted by Vanguard—a shadowy organization with tendrils reaching the highest levels of global power—Sterling reluctantly joins forces with a covert team known only as The Chessmen. Led by the enigmatic Dr. Lydia Barker and supported by the brilliant analyst Victoria Lloyd and hardened operative Caesar Bishop, Sterling must navigate a lethal game where every move could be his last.
As Vanguard prepares to detonate a modified Cobalt-60 dirty bomb in Odessa that would render the region uninhabitable for generations, Sterling finds himself in a desperate race against both time and the ruthless Vanguard operative Zora Kain.
From the rain-soaked Bulgarian mountains to a final confrontation aboard a rusting freighter in the Black Sea, Sterling must embrace the very skills that once destroyed him—or watch as Vanguard’s apocalyptic gambit unfolds.
Some games aren’t meant to be won. They’re meant to be survived.