The author, a career officer currently teaching English at West Point, sets his first novel in the near future, when North Korea once again invades the South. Spearheading the U.S. response is a light infantry division from Hawaii. Eschewing questions of policy and strategy, Ruggero centers his story around the maneuvers of a rifle company. He takes the unit from its deployment through initial patrols and rear-guard actions to the climax of an air assault behind North Korean lines.

Readers who enjoy the school of military realism/suspense found in novels by Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts should welcome this first novel set in today's Korea. The code "38 North Yankee" means that the North Korean People's Army has crossed into the demilitarized zone to invade South Korea and that American units are to engage them. Sent to counter this military adventurism, Captain Mark Isen and his men of C Company, 25th Light Infantry Division, move from Schofield barracks in Oahu to hostilities in Korea. What follows is a realistic account of men in difficult battle situations, as Isen tries to keep enemy forces contained until U.S. reinforcements arrive.