Washington: the President makes a top-secret call 

          Ottawa: tempers flare at the Governor General’s reception 

          Vancouver: a stateless immigrant is refused permission to land. 

          These seemingly unrelated events bring startling consequences for James Howden, head of a great government – a man whose destiny hinges on a scrap of paper. 

          Arthur Hailey tells with chilling insight of the passions that seethe behind the prim façade of government offices as politicians in power fight to stay there – bartering, backstabbing, browbeating, bribing with honours, money or women…