It is the seventh book in the Jack Ryan Jr. series, which is part of the overall Tom Clancy universe, as well as Blackwood's first solo contribution to the franchise.

[2] While on a routine intelligence gathering trip for The Campus in Tehran, Iran, Jack Ryan, Jr. visits his old college friend Seth Gregory for lunch.

Ryan discovers that his old friend is an agent for the Central Intelligence Agency, and that his father, Paul, was a legend in the CIA until he was branded as a traitor and committed suicide.

However, Dagestani interior minister Rebaz Medzhid, who is being lined up to be Dagestan's president, refuses to participate unless his daughter Aminat, who has been kidnapped, is rescued.

Meanwhile, Medzhid makes a last-ditch effort to stop the Russian troops by appealing to their leader, suggesting that he is being manipulated by Volodin and telling him to go back and report no disturbance in Makhachkala.

"[5] Kirkus Reviews hailed the novel as "A complex international adventure that's less military hardware–centric than Clancy solo, but Blackwood uses 'notional', which fans will know is homage to the maestro.