Two thousand years ago, ancient Sparta developed a training system called the Agoge that produced the fiercest warriors the world had ever seen. It was said that one Spartan soldier was the equal to four enemy soldiers, and Sparta's system was the envy of the known world.

Can't get around the facts. I'm a lethal government operative, trained from an early age. Guns, planes, hands-didn't matter, I'm proficient with them all. I'm irrationally drawn to Raisa Sokolov, a beautiful, mysterious Russian woman thrust into my life through a bizarre set of circumstances. Thirdly, certain experiences haunted me more than Moby Dick vexed Ahab. Could I function effectively in light of everything I'd seen and done? Should I take the CIA's warnings about Raisa seriously?

Fast forward to April 1967. The United States was in crisis, younger generations revolting after years of war in Southeast Asia. A desperate President Johnson signs off on a program designed to find the best and brightest among America's youth, children who could be taught from an early age to embrace devotion to the country. A program that eerily resembled that of Sparta's.