Novice Senator John Franks, a Democrat from Wisconsin, has barely gotten his feet wet in Washington DC when he becomes embroiled in a dangerous jihadist plot that is set to unfold in just three days. A majority member of the Homeland Security Committee, Franks teams with two other government insiders to thwart an Inauguration Day massacre that threatens to destroy the capitol of the United States, along with the entire government and all its leaders.
Franks and the others are thrown into a maelstrom of life-and death decisions when they also discover that a clandestine "Shadow Government" is poised to take the reins of control. Fearing they may already be too late, the team scrambles to head off disaster. As they draw closer to zero hour with a government coup imminent, they find themselves unprepared for the depth and scope of what is to come.
The nation's fate, and the fate of the world, hangs in the balance as Franks is forced to deal with his personal shortcomings and find the strength to step up to the demands of the crisis he races to avoid.