An American diplomat goes missing and ex-Special Forces operative Jon Reznick joins a top secret team, led by FBI Assistant Director Martha Meyerstein, to help track him down. The team believes that there may be a terrorist group - perhaps Islamists - who have kidnapped him, as the diplomat's area of expertise is the Persian Gulf. But Reznick is training his sights on an unlikely candidate - a leading Washington DC surgeon. But as the team itself comes under attack, and the 9/11 commemoration approaches, it becomes clear that the kidnapping is part of a much bigger plot, one that threatens not only New York, but the whole country too.