What happens if both the president and
vice-president-elect die before taking the oath of office? The answer is
far from certain―in fact, what follows would be nothing short of total
political chaos.
Shot down over Siberia, ex-Justice Department
agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against
Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has
festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States.
Before
escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one
a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington
D.C. Noon on January 20th―Inauguration Day―is only hours away. A flaw
in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession
act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both
weaknesses to their fullest.
Armed with a weapon leftover from
the Cold War, one long thought to be just a myth, Zorin plans to attack.
He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America’s
oldest fraternal organization―the Society of Cincinnati―a group that
once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to
formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th
colony―Canada.
In a race against the clock that starts in the
frozen extremes of Russia and ultimately ends at the White House itself,
Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront a crippling
fear that he’s long denied, but which now jeopardizes everything. Steve
Berry’s trademark mix of history and speculation is all here in this
provocative new thriller.