The USS Virginia is America's newest and most sophisticated nuclear powered submarine and hundreds of people have gathered to watch her launch. Then, the unthinkable happens: out of the cabin of the tugboat leading her out to sea emerge a band of armed men who board the submarine and man her controls. Before the destroyers nearby can react, the sub disappears: half of the men on board are slaughtered and half are put out to sea.

Admiral Jake Grafton is resting at his Delaware beach house when he gets the call that the ultimate catastrophe is at hand: who has stolen the submarine and why? Grafton's first information is that a rogue CIA group, originally trained to steal Russian technology during the Cold War is behind the operation. Soon it becomes clear that, whatever their purpose, they mean business: within hours a missile launched from the submarine destroys the top floor of the White House and an airliner crashes carrying 283 passengers is felled by a second missile. The race is on to find out where the submarine is, who is behind the nightmare scenario and how to stop it. Stephen Coonts, the author of the St. Martin's Press New York Times bestsellers FORTUNES OF WAR, CUBA and HONG KONG is back with his hero Jake Grafton for another gripping novel of international suspense.