Dr. Lily Robinson is a brilliant physician with an encyclopedic knowledge of all toxins and poisons, and a penchant for wearing stilettos. In an unforeseeable twist in her life, the United States Government appeals to her patriotism-and her knowledge of how to kill without bloodshed-to rid the world of threats to the nation. Emotionally blunted and flawed, she struggles to move between assassin and healer, yet is still able to fulfill her competing objectives. Now asked to assassinate a terrorist threatening New York City, she quickly realizes the Russians have already released a deadly toxin in a surprisingly innocuous medium.