Marcus Glass is someone we could all be familiar with. He's an acquaintance in life, the friendly guy we all know. The guy with a murky past who seems to succeed at whatever he puts his mind to. Closed-mouthed, yet approachable. But he has a secret life he doesn't talk about, except for a small circle of friends. He travels frequently and lives by the coda that less is more. Our story begins as he travels to Europe to retrieve a bauble stolen from a prominent family during the Holocaust, taking him to southern Belgium, where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. His research reveals the connection to this gold panther and an infamous SS colonel that was involved in atrocities at the end of the war. Upon his return to New York, Marcus decides it's time to retire and relocate to Hawaii.
His new wife, a Chinese native, lives in northeast China, where he often visits while they eagerly wait for her green card. While in China, Marcus becomes involved in a plot cooked up by his brother-in-law, Lǎobǎn, to steal the imperial scepter of the Kangxi Emperor-an artifact from the Qing Dynasty thought to be folklore until it miraculously surfaced in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Made of solid gold and encrusted with the largest and finest gems, the ornate scepter is to be shown publicly for the first time on the Lunar New Year in Dazheng Temple at the Imperial Palace in Shenyang, but Lǎobǎn has schemed to collect a windfall from a buyer from North Korea, who would give almost anything to have the scepter in his possession. With Marcus' history with strategy and his expertise in coordinating such escapades, he assists Lǎobǎn and his cohorts in concocting the perfect heist-but is Lǎobǎn trustworthy, or would Marcus and everyone else involved end up disposed of once the mission is complete?
