The book was Mason's second novel; he had previously written Weapon and a memoir about his experiences in Vietnam titled Chickenhawk.

When the self-aware Pentagon-built robot, Solo, goes AWOL, the Pentagon uses its reserve robot, Nimrod, as bait luring Solo into a trap meant to destroy him, and setting the stage for a cyborg confrontation.

Solo, a robot designed by the US Government as a hyper intelligent super assassin, goes AWOL on his mission in Nicaragua, and finds himself at the bottom of a lake.

Reaching the surface Solo realizes that he needs to recharge, and eventually makes his way to New York, acquiring friends along the way.

The feature film Solo created in 1996, is an adaptation of the first book of the series Weapon, and though it borrows the name of the title character from both novels, it is not considered to be true to the source material.