Mary Ashley, a bright young professor and mother of two, is appointed US ambassador to an Iron Curtain Country. But even before she takes up her post, unseen and powerful enemies - including the sinister Angel, assassin par excellence - plot her destruction. From the White House to the romance of Paris, from Rome to the shady menace of Bucharest, the action races.

If America had a royal family, the Winthrops would wear the crown. Popular and charismatic, they have captured the imagination of the world with their public service, enormous charity and glamorous lives. But in a single year, all five members of the family are killed in a series of 'accidents'. Dana Evans, a beautiful young anchorwoman with a Washington TV network, sees something sinister behind their deaths and begins an investigation that yields evidence she can hardly believe.