Elvis Cole's taciturn partner, Joe Pike, investigates an attack on former associate Frank Meyer, a one-time mercenary whose family has been murdered by a professional hit crew and who police suspect has been keeping a dangerous secret.

The crew of the Oregon has just completed a top secret mission against Iran in the Persian Gulf, when they come across a cruise ship adrift in the sea. Hundreds of bodies litter its deck, and as ship captain Cabrillo tries to determine what happened, explosions rack the length of the ship. Barely able to escape with his own life and that of the liner's sole survivor, Cabrillo finds himself plunged into a mystery as intricate--and as perilous--as any...