Michael Sloan, co-creator of the classic 1980s TV series, reinvents the story of the mysterious, former covert intelligence officer who helps desperate people who are in need of his unique and deadly skills. Robert McCall is a former covert operations officer for the CIA who tries to atone for past sins by offering, free of charge, his services as a troubleshooter (often literally), a protector, and an investigator. People in need find him through a newspaper ad and on the internet: "Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer." Aided by a group of sometimes-mysterious contacts (some of whom date back to his spying days), McCall traverses the streets of New York City, visiting justice upon those who prey upon the weak. In this novel, based on the 1980s television show, and timed to come out shortly before the feature film version starring Denzel Washington, McCall goes up against an old enemy, a Chechen nightclub owner, who now runs an elite assassination service to try and save the life of an innocent woman.

Creator of The Equalizer TV series, Michael Sloan reinvents the story of the mysterious Robert McCall, a former intelligence officer who helps desperate people in need of his unique skill set. Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. McCall’s first client is a distraught mother who is desperate to locate her young daughter, drawn into the shadowy world of white slavery. But this client may not be all she appears to be. At the time same, McCall is approached by a diplomat who works for the United Nations. Her son, an American Captain in the US Army, is part of a contingent advising Syrian Rebel forces in their fight against the Jihadists. He has been reported KIA, but his body has not been found. His mother asks McCall to find out if her son is alive or dead. When McCall embarks on a suicidal rescue mission in Syria, he stumbles upon a terror plot aimed at the United States. The terrorists are being protected by mercenaries known as Momento Miro―Remember That You Must Die. McCall discovers the key to the terror attacks is his one-time boss, Control, the head of a spy organization called “The Company.” He is missing. His life has been deleted from all personal and intelligence records, as if he never existed. McCall has to find his old friend and stop these terror attacks from being carried out on American soil. McCall also has to deal with an “Equalizer” wannabe, a psychotic vigilante whose attempts to be a “hero” and rid the New York streets of violent crime are getting innocent people killed.

Robert McCall's friend, Granny, a one-time covert agent for a shadowy spy organization called The Company, sends McCall a cryptic message telling him that he is being imprisoned in a North Korean prison camp. He and the other western prisoners are being tortured. The prisoners are surrounded by dense forest from which there is no escape. McCall embarks on a perilous course to rescue his friend and the other prisoners, aided by two charismatic North Korean mercenaries. It is a suicidal mission for McCall but he has no choice to attempt it. At the same time, an old enemy of McCall has been setting up a trap for him with some handpicked mercenaries. She is the lover of a spy McCall once had to kill and her revenge on him is callous and impassioned. At the same time, a beautiful NYPD rookie is being stalked by some vicious predators. She is partially deaf and her tormentors are rogue cops who attack her in a deserted warehouse. McCall hears her story from a tough-as-nails cop who wants to take the law into his own hands. McCall persuades him to give him a chance to bring these criminals to justice. The action also takes place on the Rivera where more of the Memento Mori mercenaries are plotting to infiltrate several high-profile rock concerts where they are going to detonate explosive devises. McCall and his team try to stop them before hundreds of innocent people will be killed, For McCall, it all comes to a showdown at a beautiful chateau on a lake in Russia where McCall must face his sworn enemy and rescue two people who are targeted for assassination.