Hank Tower, an ex-spy turned New York PI, is asked by highly-placed intelligence officials to find the killer of a retired member of their group. Tower discovers that the man was killed because he had uncovered a plot so diabolical that if it succeeded would kill tens of millions of Americans.
Behind the plot are Russia and North Korea, both with decades-old grievances against the U. S. Their objective is to render the U. S. government powerless at home and abroad.
The brilliance of their scheme is that both countries would appear innocent. The killing would be done in a way untraceable to either of them. If it is allowed to start, it would kill without an end.
With the horror only days away the planners are eliminating anyone they believe might suspect their scheme. Two people are garroted…another is tortured to death...an Olympic swimmer is strangled…two government agents are gunned down…a critical map is burned seconds before its capture… a mindless brute nearly cuts Tower’s throat. The start of the plan is imminent and plotters are hellbent on making sure nothing stops it.
Eventually U. S. agencies learn about a vague plan to kill millions, but cannot proceed against it until they have information that only Hank Tower has. The plotters know this and have captured him and his associate, an ex-NYPD sergeant. A gruesome death awaits both of them, if they can’t escape. America will come apart, if they don’t.