Soon after arriving in Manila in the early 1990s, Clay Sadler, the regional security officer at the U.S. embassy, is thrust into a chaotic world of uncertainty and deception. In a city where gunfire and explosions are commonplace, an early-morning ambush that leaves a senior American diplomat in critical condition appears to have been just another protest against the presence of U.S. military bases in the Philippines. But not everyone accepts that assumption. Sadler and the Coronado group, an organization dedicated to working with the Filipino government to prevent acts of violence against Americans in the Philippines, aren't convinced. They're committed to finding out who was responsible, what the perpetrators' motives were, and how to bring them to justice.
While the intelligence resources of both countries are devoted to solving the crime, indications of a coup d'etat by factions within the armed forces intensify. When the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Stan Martin, plans a trip to Manila, threats against Americans increase. Martin insists on proceeding with the visit as planned, but what happens when he arrives at Manila International Airport is captured on live television and shocks viewers around the world.
With more American lives at stake every day, a determined Sadler is compelled to take steps beyond conventional protocol. What he discovers challenges his ability to distinguish truth from illusion."