Most folk dread Mondays; not Matt, he looks forward to them. Back to work means his mobile phone will come to life again. Whether it be a call from a client: an email from a supplier or a text from someone in the office; work affords purpose and meaning to his life. Inspiration to a new life arrives courtesy of yet another 'not quite right' blind date in Camden with a bookish Canadian, who'd recently returned from teaching English in Ukraine. "I think a shy, good-looking, funny Englishman like yourself, will do very well in Kiev," her parting gambit. Matt agrees a six month time-out with his employer, and a job teaching English in Kiev drops into his lap. A decision that introduces a new supporting cast to his life, in the form of the British Monarchy, the Russian Imperial Guard, the IRA, and Cheka - the old Bolshevik Russian secret police. Life is about to get a lot more interesting for Matthew Kennedy.