Russell B. Parker, a former vaudeville hoofer, is a man of big dreams but small ambitions. He hardly works at all in fact, often spending the time incessantly playing checkers with his friend, William Jenkins. Parker lives with Theopolis and Bobby, his two unemployed sons, and Adele, his hard-working daughter. The ghost of his dead wife, a woman who drove herself into an early grave working to support the family, nags at his conscience.

Liv, a mercenary, is drawn into a mission to rescue a kidnapped politician. He travels to the volatile Mideast and is assisted by Laura, a translator, where their lives are imperiled.