To the CIA, the mysterious disappearance of mathematics genius Teddy Wu was an obvious defection to Communist China; a case of one of Mao's men reentering the fold. But Teddy's beautiful fiancée refuses to accept this; she embarks on a desperate search that plunges her into the teeming heart of Red China itself, into the dark shadow world of ancient crime societies and the dreaded "Brotherhood of the Green Snake". Abandoned by a government that brands her a traitor, she finds herself atop a political time bomb of terrifying proportions, and soon, only she holds the key that can save her lover... and perhaps the world.