[1] The novel is a thriller about a plot by terrorists to commit mass murder during the Super Bowl in New Orleans, and law enforcement efforts to stop them.

He is also secretly deranged by years of torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, a bitter court martial on his return, and a failed marriage.

Lander conspires with Dahlia Iyad, an operative from the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, to launch a suicide attack using a bomb composed of plastique and a quarter million flechettes, housed on the underside of the gondola of the blimp, which they will detonate over Tulane Stadium during a Super Bowl between the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins.

The explosion kills hundreds, including Kabakov, but thanks to their efforts they manage to prevent the death of tens of thousands more people.

In 1977, a film was made based on the novel starring Robert Shaw and Bruce Dern and directed by John Frankenheimer.