A series of explosions has rocked Washington D.C., killing 185 people -- an act of extreme violence that calls for an extreme response from elite counter-terrorism operative Mitch Rapp and his trusted team member, Mike Nash. But key Washington officials are uncertain whether to back the agents who, regardless of the legal consequences, stand between the enemy's bullets and countless American lives. Not for the first time, Rapp finds himself in the frustrating position of having to expose the country's politicians to the harsh realities of national security. Three of the al-Qaeda terrorists are still at large, and Rapp has been unofficially ordered to find them by any means necessary. No one knows the personal, physical and emotional sacrifices required by the job better than Rapp. And when he sees that Nash is cracking under the pressure of the mission, he makes a decision he hopes will save his friend, assuage the naysayers on Capitol Hill, and bring him one step closer to the enemy before it's too late...