The CIA term theirs "Clandestine Operations Division," the KGB call theirs "Executive Action Section" and the British Secret Intelligence Services's team go by the nickname "The Sandbaggers." Roy Marsden is Neil Burnside, ex-Sandbagger and now Director of Operations for SIS. Burnside is a dedicated professional, to whom SIS is not simply a way of life, but life itself.

London Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz, pulled out of the Thames River with amnesia and a bullet wound in his leg, embarks on an investigation to recover his lost memory and find out what his shooting had to do with a three-year-old kidnapping case in which the victim is believed to be dead and perpetrator in jail.