Radar navigator Daren Mace has been to the gates of hell and back. In Operation Desert storm he rightfully aborted a secret mission, only to be ostracised by the flying community as a result. Now Mace has a new role - in the Air Force Reserves at a New York air bas, where he meets Rebecca Furness, the USA's first woman combat pilot. Known as 'The Iron Maiden', Furness is unlike any other aviator Mace has ever known - beautiful, though and an ace flier.

When, halfway around the world, a border skirmish involving Russia, Ukraine and Moldova leads to low-yield nuclear devices being used, the new US president faces his toughest challenge yet. He puts the USA on full wartime-readiness footing for the first time since 1991 and sends an air combat force to Ukraine, just as the Russian president is making his own power plays. Suddenly Mace, Furness and the rest of their unit are hurtled into a dispute that goes beyond Ukrainian borders - a crisis that could lead to the horrors of all-out nuclear conflict.

'Dale Brown is the best military adventure writer in the country today - a master at creating a sweeping epic and making it seem real'

CLIVE CUSSLER, author of 'Sahara'

'The action is, as you expect from Brown, great'

KIRKUS REVIEWS

'Dale Brown is a superb storyteller'

WASHINGTON POST