p. c. chinick

In 1943, Anya Pavlovitch, a Russian expatriate working for the U.S. War Department, is asked to return to Shanghai, a city that holds painful memories and is currently occupied by Japanese forces. She must accompany a misogynistic Naval Intelligence Officer, Macdonald “Mac” Benson, recruited by the OSS. Commander Benson, a field operative pulled back to Washington after a mishap, is determined to reclaim himself and avoid the confinement of a desk job.

In Shanghai, Anya reunites with people from her past while Mac associates with unscrupulous characters, one in particular who holds the key to Anya’s past. Her shenanigans put the two at odds. When the head of Shanghai’s opium trade kidnaps Mac, Anya musters the courage to recue him and redeem herself.