"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...

When a malevolent foreign dictator hacks into the U.S. nuclear defense system, the president comes under fire. With the clock winding down, lawyer Ben Kincaid has precious little time to defend the president. While Kincaid faces the trial of his life, legendary CIA agent Seamus McKay races through the clogged streets of Washington, searching for a hidden command center--guarded by murderous fanatics--that now controls U.S. ballistic missiles.