Ministers of Fire opens in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1979, where, the author writes, "the world we know was born." CIA station chief Lucius Burling, an idealistic but flawed product of his nation's intelligence establishment, barely survives the assassination of the American ambassador. Burling's reaction to the murder, and his desire to understand its larger meaning, propel him on a journey of intrigue and betrayal that will shake his faith in himself and in his country.
Fast forward to Shanghai in the spring of 2002: his marriage and career blown off course, Burling lives quietly as the American consul, but the attacks of September 11 threaten to bring his misadventures in Afghanistan back to the surface. A Chinese dissident physicist may be planning to sell his country's nuclear secrets, and Burling recognizes the fingerprints of a covert operation, one without the obvious sanction of the Agency.
The dissident Yong's escape route winds through an underground railroad of unauthorized churches and activists' homes, drawing the violent attention of General Zu Dongren of the Chinese internal security service and his devoted lieutenant Li Xin. Drawn inexorably into their path, Burling must face both the ghosts of the past and a present world of global trafficking, fragile alliances, and the human need for connection above all.
Reminiscent of the best work of Graham Greene and John le Carre, Ministers of Fire extends the spy thriller into new historical, political, and emotional territory.