Marcus Glass is a man who gets things done and makes the impossible possible. Follow his exploits from Belgium and New York to Indonesia and Hawaii, as he lives a secret life and continues to go on many adventures, even after he retired. On a routine trip to visit his new wife in northeast 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?