When a Brazilian contract killer tries to assassinate Prince Alexander Poniatowski in Mexico City, he has no idea who might have ordered the hit--because it could be anyone in a large pool of suspects. A popular film star in second-rate romantic soap operas in Mexico and recently cast in a coveted breakout role in Hollywood, Alex is a thrill-seeker and chronic womanizer with a dark side unbeknownst to his fans: he is also a soldier of fortune and an occasional enforcer in the seedy Mexican underworld.

Since he cannot run to the authorities and risk exposing his secret life and damaging his burgeoning acting career, he enlists the help of his best friend, business partner, and ex-marine squad leader, Thomas Bertram, to aid him in searching for the instigator behind the attempt. Thus, the two amigos—one spontaneous and impulsive and the other deliberate and logical—team up again in a wild hunt around the world to find the secret mastermind.

The search takes the peripatetic pair to the dangerous Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, the upper echelons of high society in Paris, the dark alleys of the Gothic quarter in Barcelona, the glamorous Hollywood studios in L.A., the vibrant streets and nightclubs of Miami, and the quaint, artistic city of Asheville nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

As the two friends close in on the person or persons pulling the strings, Alex must survive more assassination attempts while individuals relevant to the investigation start turning up dead. Soon, Thomas and Alex realize they have stumbled onto something more treacherous than they could have imagined. As their hunt for the truth leads them relentlessly to the highest levels of power and to uncovering the most clandestine of secrets within the hallowed halls of the U.S. government, Thomas and Alex are determined to expose the shadowy people behind the assassination attempts and make them pay with their lives.