Retired FBI Agent Mark Patrick is back in action after he is contacted by a member of the Sicilian Mafia and asked to relay critical information to the bureau about a suspected terror attack targeting the US. Desperate to convince their fundamentalist donors to return, al-Qaeda has authorized "The Engineer" to operate off the AQ grid leading two cells of radicalized US citizens to attack Manhattan and Boston. They are willing to unsheathe an evil not yet dared, transforming both cities into dead zones where no one can commute to work. The fragile economy will collapse and al-Qaeda will create fear in every US city as residents realize their government cannot protect them. There is no US electronic or human intelligence, no chatter, and no one has informants inside al-Qaeda. Patrick and his associates must prevail to save our cities.