In The Casablanca Walk, a Chinese intelligence officer assumes the role of a Russian agent, hoping his actions will disrupt Russian-American relations. In New Jersey, the teenage daughter of an American diplomat is kidnapped. Her cousin and a mutual friend disappear. Connecting the events, authorities recognize the MO of an infamous Russian agent who had sworn never to operate in the United States. The MO used in the past was quite simple. The target was always a diplomat or member of the military. The target's child was taken, and a relative, and a third child known to the target. Following a precise timetable, the relative of the target is mutilated—a finger or ear severed and delivered. On the next day, the friend is killed, the body left openly to be found. At that point the target is told to comply with the demand for the information requested, or the target's child will be killed. With one child tortured and the other murdered, no target had ever yet stood up to the kidnapper. In each case the children were always killed. A former CIA analyst, now transferred into the FBI's intelligence division in Washington, is assigned the case based on his prior experience in Europe. There he had faced this situation on three separate occasions, and, knowing who was responsible, always lost the children. Now, the agent unknown, he must identify the perpetrator, break up the plan, and bring the children safely back home.
