Jack Ryan, the new president's National Security Adviser, sees the problems of peace fully as complex as those of war. Enemies have become friends, friends enemies, and even the form of conflict has changed.
When one of the new enemies prepares to strike not only American territory but the heart of its economy, Ryan, with the help of CIA officers John Clark and Domingo Chavez, must prepare an untested president to meet the challenge. But how? For there is a debt of honor to be paid — and the price will be terrifyingly high.