Pastor Clem Dudas is a charismatic preacher who features rattlesnakes in his worship, a businessman developing fake AI “political exposés,” a schemer with clandestine Russian connections. Bud Randolph shares Clem’s politics, a quirky disposition of his own, and a far different link to Russia; Bud travels there seeking love. When Clem’s wife and two favorite snakes go missing, Bud and his detective team take the case. They solve one mystery, only to uncover another far more deadly. Bud’s Russian romance heats up, just as Russia attacks Ukraine. His sweetheart, Sveti, must go underground after protesting the war, leaving Bud to smuggle precious cargo out of the country.