Though slated for high command, Colonel Amadeus Ignazio "Skip" Schiaparelli abandoned his life in uniform when the Army no longer felt like home. Retiring to a contemplative existence in Italy, he is recruited by an American intelligence officer with an stirring proposal. Intrigued, if somewhat skeptical, Skip accepts the offer and is thereafter launched into a shadowy world of lies and deception which threaten many of his core beliefs. Skip is a man committed to the ancient principles imparted to him by his father: trust, friendship and honour. He surrounds himself with friends, both old and new, who share those same beliefs. But even in Eden there was a snake, and betrayal threatens this new life of brotherhood and fraternal fidelity that he creates. Whatever the challenge, Skip follows his guiding principle, that trust is earned not given. But in a world of deception, can one man trust his own instincts?