In Cuba, an ailing Fidel Castro lies dying. Across the Straits of Florida, an anxious US awaits the inevitable power struggle, determined to have a say in who controls this strategically invaluable island. And the American President has an added reason for concern: an Arms Control Conference has just begun in Paris and, unbeknownst to either the American public or Cuba, the US has hidden secret weapons inside the American base on Cuba's Guantanemo Bay. But no secret remains one for long, and when one of the Cuban factions finds out about the weapons, the excitement begins.

Only Admiral Grafton, on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Cuba, knows the impending danger. Only Grafton can save America from a disaster that would make the Bay of Pigs look like child's play. In Cuba, Stephen Coonts captures the ominous feel of a tropical powderkeg about to explode in a novel filled with the action and drama for which he is famous.