Older and maybe wiser, Allie Burns is chafing at losing her role in investigative journalism and landing in the gutter of the UK tabloid media. Stumbling over a story about HIV/AIDS that will shock her into a major change of direction, Allie also detects seismic rumblings behind the Iron Curtain. Soon kidnap and murder are added to this potent mix, and in this sequel to 1979, Allie is forced to question all her old certainties as she begins to investigate.