Damon Traynor leaves a glittering career on Wall Street to set up his own private equity business. When it is the winning bidder in the multi-billion-dollar auction for a government-owned defense company, his firm’s future success looks certain.

But soon after the deal closes, Damon makes an alarming discovery --- something that makes the recent acquisition worthless. Then he learns he was duped by the financially strapped federal administration and that there are many others in the same position. Facing financial ruin, he investigates the US treasury officials behind the transaction.

What Damon uncovers is a terrifying web of organized crime --- extending all the way to the White House itself --- involving blackmail and assassination on an industrial scale. When those around him begin to die, Damon finds himself locked in a deadly battle with the leader of the free world.