Once again, as so many other times in his life, Felicito remembered his father's words before he died: "Never let anyone step on you, my boy. This advice is the only inheritance you will receive."

He had listened to him, never letting anyone step on him.
And with half a century and more on his shoulders, he was too old to change habits.

The book "A Discreet Hero" tells the parallel story of two characters: the measured and lovable Felicito Yanaque, a small businessman from Piura who falls victim to extortion; and Ismael Carrera, a successful businessman, owner of an insurance company in Lima, who devises an unexpected revenge against
his two idle sons who wished for his death.

Both characters are, in their own way, discreet rebels, trying to take control of their destinies, as both Ismael and Felicito struggle against the course of events. While Ismael defies all the conventions of his social class, Felicito clings to a few principles to face the extortion.
They are not inflexible, but they stand above the pettiness of their environment to live according to their ideals and desires. In these pages, familiar faces from Vargas Llosa's world appear: Sergeant Lituma and the invincibles, Don Rigoberto, Doña Lucrecia, and Fonchito, who now all move in a very affluent Peru.