The assignment given to World Bank consultant Jerry Stern is simple: check the progress on a $2.4 billion project to expand the railroad and shipping facilities of Istanbul. But within hours of his arrival, Stern is brutally mugged, and his friends are nearly killed as he tracks the corruption through London back to Washington. "Pinned to the wall of a building by the screaming, frightened, and enraged marchers, Stern tried to push Hulya behind him to shield her from the wildly swinging arms with truncheons and sticks of wood that were advancing on them. Before she was safely hidden, she was struck hard in the face and fell to one knee. Stern swung about to punish her attacker and instead faced three of the gang of toughs that had raced from the building across the street. As he raised his fists, one of the men ducked down and swung his wooden club against Stern's left shin. Stern gasped in pain as his leg buckled. Another sent a powerful direct punch into Stern's jaw, sending his head crashing against the brick wall. His crumpled fall was cushioned by Hulya, who had been seeking protection behind the tall American, who at that moment was unconscious."