Corporal Aedan O'Neall, just out of the U.S. Marine Corps, has his eyes set on Texas A & M University. Prior to being discharged, his covert handler promised that if he graduated with a major in accounting, he would gain employment with a prominent U.S. intelligence organization. He has no idea the organization is not connected to the United States government.
With his bachelor's degree in hand, O'Neall interviews with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, then learns his new employer is a front for the Order of the Knights of the Way. Over the next two decades, the Order's front moves him in and out of legitimate companies while O'Neall faces professional challenges he can share with no one outside the organization and personal challenges he can share with no one at all. His covert work tests his resolve and challenges his sanity.
His moody and sometimes unreasonable wife, Maggie, further complicates his already stressful life. A new baby daughter changes both of them. A terrible tragedy almost destroys O'Neall and the future others plan for him without his knowledge. The Grooming shares O'Neall's life with the reader through fast-paced trials and tribulations.