Bray Scofield is an agent with the Consular Operations of the State Department.
This two-book series sometimes goes by the name of the evil organization Scofield opposes, largely because the name is in both titles. The Matarese refers to an extremely secret cabal dedicated to bring chaos to the world's governments so that the group's people might step in and rule in their stead.
The organization got its start in the early 1910's when a rich Corsican, learning that jealous men around the world had conspired to break him, resulting in considerable loss of money and the death of his two sons, set out on a mad scheme for revenge. Selecting several influential, and also 'victims' of his enemies, he presented his plan, gave them the remainder of his riches, and then promptly had himself killed.
Sixty some years later, the work of the descendants have brought the world to the brink of anarchy and war. A major part in their latest action involves assassinations done by them but implicating the best agent from both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Unfortunately for the Matarese, neither of these agents take kindly to being framed and both greatly resent the trumped-up charges leading to orders for their deaths.
Bray Scofield is the American agent being victimized and it is he who is the main focal point of the series. He shares billing, however, with two other characters. Taleniekov is the Soviet agent who, in the first chronicle, teaches Scofield of the existence of the Matarese and fights alongside him to vanquish the group's leadership. Cameron Pryce is the CIA agent who, twenty years later, brings Scofield back into action when the remnants of the Matarese.
Interestingly, many references to both books on the web put Scofield in the employ of the CIA, which he is not. He is, however, the key agent for a hush-hush division in the State Department, set up initially to assist diplomats and now a small but still important part of the Intelligence community.