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At the request of MI6 agent John Crawley, Alex becomes a ball boy at Wimbledon. There, he finds that the Chinese Triad gang "Big Circle" is fixing matches. He foils the plot, but soon becomes a target and barely survives an attempt on his life while surfing. For his safety, both MI6 and the CIA send him with CIA agents Tom Turner (Glen Carver in the US version) and Belinda Troy to the Cuban island of "Cayo Esqueleto" (Spanish for "Skeleton Key") to investigate General Alexei Sarov. Alex learns that Sarov recently purchased nuclear material, and the CIA is concerned about what will happen next.
To enter Sarov's mansion, Turner and Troy scuba dive. When they do not return, Alex dives as well and discovers that they were killed in an elaborate trap. When Alex returns to the boat, he is kidnapped by Sarov's henchman, Conrad. Sarov tells Alex that he plans to detonate the nuclear bomb at Murmansk, in an abandoned shipyard of nuclear submarines. The nuclear fallout will force President of Russia Boris Kiriyenko out of power and lead to Russia reclaiming glory lost during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Sarov also wishes to adopt Alex as his son, as he reminds Sarov of his own son who was killed in action.
When the plane they are travelling in stops at Edinburgh Airport, Alex uses a stun grenade (courtesy of Smithers at MI6) to distract Conrad. A security guard, however, grabs Alex's phone as he tries to call the police and Sarov quickly recaptures him. At Murmansk, Sarov plants the bomb and ties Alex up due to his earlier escape attempt. Alex escapes and kills Conrad with a giant magnetetic crane used to lift the bomb, then removes the detonation card from the bomb. The Russian army arrives and starts fighting Sarov's men. When Alex tells Sarov that he would rather die than become Sarov's son, Sarov commits suicide with his gun.
In the final chapter of the novel, it is revealed that when the Edinburgh security guard grabbed the phone, he did not hang it up, and the police heard the resulting conversation. The police then alerted MI6 and the Russians. Alex is depressed after having seen Sarov shoot himself. Alex's friend from Wimbledon, Sabina Pleasure, visits Alex and invites him on holiday with her family in France for a couple of weeks, cheering Alex up.
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