Off the African coast, American scientist Sam Quick and her team search a volcanic island for the elusive bacteria that will finally liberate the U.S. from Middle Eastern oil. Quick instead stumbles on a deadly plot that threatens the U.S. eastern seaboard with unthinkable destruction. The chain of events stretches from the tiny island to the capitals of Europe to the rustbelt of America. And at the center is a brutal Russian billionaire hell-bent on rewriting history. In this highest-stakes experiment of her life, can Sam Quick stay alive long enough to stop him?