The first volume of what will be a multi-book saga: Tom Swift faces two parts of an old comet that have started heading toward Earth. The news media attempts to stir up a really big panic about it all, yet not very many astronomers are certain that it isn't just a tempest in a teacup. Until the day it turns out to be much more than that. While governments dither and scientists endlessly debate, and while religious zealots want people to just give up and pacifists fight with those who say that a nuclear deterrent is what's called for, Tom and his team at Swift Enterprises leap into action. But, if blasting the problem apart isn't a viable solution, what can possibly be? Given the relatively brief amount of time available to take action, is there really something that Tom can do? To make matters worse for Tom, his head of Security has been kidnapped and is nowhere on Earth to be found. But Harlan Ames isn't just sitting as a prisoner-although that is exactly what he is-and their paths are destined to cross again. A pair of megalomaniacs want to enslave the Earth and are going about it by setting up a secret lunar colony and working toward flinging the comet and part of an asteroid to Earth. Now, Tom finds himself with at least four problems to tackle at one time