In this sequel to the thriller Little Brother (2008), Marcus is back and an economic collapse has ended his college ambitions. But thanks to his reputation as a technological wizard, he lands a job as a webmaster for a reform-minded politician, Joe Noss. While attending a festival, Marcus receives a flash drive filled with governmental and corporate dirty secrets from Masha, a secret agent he met three years earlier. She tells him to release the information should anything happen to her. Immediately thereafter, Masha is kidnapped and Marcus' job, family and well-being, as well as his employer's election campaign, are all endangered.