In the novel, Jack Ryan Jr. must stop a German private contractor from unleashing false flag attacks to profit from the war on terror.

One night outside a market in Alexandria, Virginia, he survives a mugging attack by fighting back; the wounded mugger later stumbles into an eight-wheeler truck, killing him.

Ryan investigates the circumstances behind the incident using clues left behind by his attacker, and is later convinced that he is being targeted for assassination when he finds out that another man similar to his description was killed a week ago.

Over the course of his investigation, Ryan meets Effrem Likkel, a Belgian freelance journalist who is following up on a lead about seemingly missing French soldier René Allemand.

Hugo Allemand reveals that Rostock became deeply Islamophobic after the death of his wife at the hands of a suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2005, when he was a government official.

He later retired from public service and formed RSG, with a mission to eliminate terrorists by “any means necessary” and outside the scope of government oversight.

Moreover, he and Likkel find out that RSG has been engaging in direct action sabotage on behalf of economic corporations in order to gain favor for funding its operations.