Philip Westmann's entire life has been predictable and uneventful up until now. Suddenly, aged forty-nine and single, he finds himself without a job, lots of money and nowhere to go. He returns to Brazil and at the invitation of Cesar Santos, a former colleague, he agrees to become a consultant for him and persuade the Presidents of Brazil and Argentina to join forces with the President of Venezuela to construct oil and gas pipelines from Caracas to Tierra del Fuego.Unknown to Philip, one of Cesar's partners, a Ukrainian billionaire, Sergei Petrov, is wanted by the FBI for fraudulent share dealing on the New York Stock Exchange. Philip unwittingly becomes a mole for the CIA and matters are further complicated when he and Cesar's wife, the beautiful Gabriella fall in love and have an affair...