Carl’s job is boring him to death. Being an MI5 Surveillance Officer is not as exciting as it sounds. Most of the time he feels more like a security guard than James Bond. The surveillance targets he is assigned usually turn out to be dead ends. Which is why, after weeks of monotony, he has slipped into having an affair with the wife of the man he is currently supposed to be watching.

Anna has her secrets. Like the affair she is having with mysterious new neighbour, Carl. It’s the most excitement she’s had in decades, given that she lives in a soporific English village surrounded by pensioners. She imagines it’s her last chance at getting something like the life she wanted rather than the one she’s settled for.

Ben, Anna’s husband, is not as beige as he seems. Yes, he’s the local village handyman – not the most exciting job in the world. And yes, he and Anna haven’t had sex in months. But not even Anna knows that Ben is also a sleeper agent, recruited by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service in the 90’s. He thought they’d discarded him – but now, over 20 years later, Russia’s Illegals Program is kicking up a gear in a new Cold War. And Ben has been activated for the first time, whether he likes it or not…