Bond finds himself in the middle of a deadly game of terrorism and arms dealing, a game that pits him against one of the most ruthless and sinister villains that he has ever encountered.

Special Branch is not usually interested in dead bodies found floating in the Thames, except when the corpse is a young girl with an impeccable background; then they become very interested indeed. So interested that they call on the legendary M, head of Secret Service.

In turn M sends for Commander James Bond, who finds himself caught up in an unusual mixture of intrigue and mayhem involving a strange, but deadly, quasi-religious sect known as the Society of the Meek Ones; their leader is the soft-spoken Father Valentine, who has links with the shadowy Vladimir Scorpius, nicknamed 'The King of Terror' because he is the largest arms dealer to various terrorist factions worldwide.

Naturally, with evil comes the good —the society girl, the Honorable Trilby Shrivenham, and an American undercover agent, the gorgeous Harriet Horner. Good girls? Only time will tell.