Two Parisian gangsters disrupt a party of American women and their Parisian boyfriends in a chic apartment. One gangster chases two of the women into the marketplace and kidnaps Maureen Winston. Back in Los Angeles, California, Maureen’s family prays for her safe return. An anonymous note demands that Maureen’s sister, Margaret, and her friends, Wendy and Ken, appear at midnight in McGill’s bar in San Pedro, California, for more information about Maureen. At the bar, a man named Desmond Floyd introduces himself as Jake Speed’s associate. Wendy knows “Jake Speed” only as an adventurous pulp-fiction character in a book, and is unimpressed. Jake Speed appears and surprises Wendy with his knowledge. According to him, a gang involved in the international white slave trade kidnapped Maureen and has taken her to Africa. Jake claims that he can help Margaret find her sister. Wendy drags Margaret to the restroom and insists that Jake talks a good story but is really a con artist. Guided by her instincts, Margaret travels to Africa reading Jake Speed novels along the way. Jake and Desmond check Margaret into a seedy motel. Jake gives Margaret a white dress to wear as they go out for cocktails, but they barely reach their destination after escaping a surprise air attack by revolutionaries. At the nightclub, Margaret ruins Jake’s plan to sell her as a prostitute, which could have led them to Maureen. Rebels ambush the club, and the electricity fails during the raid. Although Jake and Margaret escape, once again, the slave traders chase them, but scatter when rebel forces move in with heavy artillery. Desmond arrives in a jeep, and rescues Jake and Margaret only to find their hotel has been bombed. Margaret believes she has been misled, and wants to go home, but according to Jake, that is not an option. As they argue, the slave traders hide behind the lobby bar and shoot at them. Jake returns fire and kills the attackers. In the rain, they take refuge in a barn. Margaret’s confidence in Jake has plummeted, and she accuses him of having no plan. Although she is convinced that she will die before she finds Maureen, Jake calms her. In the morning, Margaret discovers that Jake carries a number of counterfeit identification cards. She decides she is better off on her own and escapes on foot. When Jake and Desmond realize she is gone, they go into town to find her. Along the road, two British subjects agree to drive Margaret to the British Consulate after she explains her predicament. When a consulate official named Rodrigo hears her story, he produces a photograph of Jake and Desmond, and claims they are confidence men known as Robert Ronson and James Packwood. Margaret returns to the barn, finds the drunken Jake and Desmond happy to see her. Rodrigo and his associates arrest Jake and Desmond, having used Margaret to set the trap. Elsewhere, a white slave trader named Sid negotiates with two Arabs to sell Maureen and another Los Angeles woman. Rodrigo and his men leave Jake and Margaret in Sid’s custody. Jake and Sid are old adversaries, and exchange banter before Jake and Margaret are tied up. The prisoners work the ropes loose with their teeth. When Rodrigo walks in to kill them, they ambush him and escape. Jack and Margaret rescue Maureen, but Sid prevents them from escaping, using Margaret as a human shield. Jake casts aside his gun, and Margaret hurls a string of insults at Sid after he licks her face. This gives Jake a chance to reach for the hidden gun strapped to his ankle and he shoots Sid. Jake finds Sid’s bazooka and they search the compound for an escape route. However, Sid’s bulletproof vest saved him and he revives. Sid traps Jake and the two sisters on a staircase leading to a torture chamber. He opens a trap door leading to a chamber filled with lions. As the sisters struggle to avoid falling, Jake slides down the staircase with his gun blasting, and drops into the chamber. Outside, Sid’s guards examine Jake’s custom spy car, which was confiscated when he was arrested. Jake nimbly makes his way to an upper window, and escapes while the lions are busy feasting on the fresh carcass of one of Sid’s guards. From a hiding place, Desmond uses a remote control to activate machine guns inside the spy car, sending Sid’s guards scurrying. Jake uses a hidden key to drive the spy car through Sid’s mansion until he finds Margaret and Maureen. Desmond rejoins them outside. Sid and his entourage have evacuated the property, but Jake and company are close behind. Jake catches up to Sid, rams his car, and forces Sid down a ravine. In town, chaos reigns as the revolutionaries take over. Jake, Margaret, Desmond and Maureen run to catch a plane at the airport. Sid drives through a barricade onto the runway. He shoots Desmond, but Jake retaliates and tackles him. Sid grabs an innocent bystander, holds a knife to his neck, and drags him toward the plane. Sid calls Jake a boy scout and slits the hostage’s throat. Sid takes cover on a military truck, and fires his machine gun. Jake grabs a weapon from a dead soldier and shoots Sid’s truck, causing it to explode. As Margaret boards the plane, she tells Jake she will miss him. He promises to find her, and they kiss. As the plane taxis down the runway, Desmond tells Jake he should have been on it, but Jake claims that they need a big finish for their next novel. Jake and Desmond fight off the rebels trying to prevent the plane from leaving. Back in Los Angeles, Margaret finds Jake’s latest adventure, Zambezi Run, on the newsstand, and her picture is featured on the cover. As she turns the pages, Jake’s dedication reads, “To Maggie – A promise is a promise…I miss you.”