The Persistent follows the adventures of the three young men introduced in The Obedient, who were chosen to do God's work in very special ways. The Cold War was at its peak in the late 1950's and their intimacy with the President and a CIA operative keep them involved on the cutting edge of the intelligence war between the U.S. and USSR. They find it necessary to return to the Soviet Union to find the truth about a disastrous nuclear accident which the Soviet Union tried to hide from even their own citizens. They find the information they were seeking, and rescue a Russian Jewish scientist as well. The Soviets attempt to murder the three in the Washington area where they live is unsuccessful and they decide to take the fight to Moscow. While there they discover a plot to assassinate the Soviet Premier. After consultations with the President, they help to derail the plot, establishing a fragile truce with the new KGB Director.