Date first published	1984
ISBN Number	0 241 11184 6
Page Count	348 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

A Coast Guard cutter comes across a ship drifting aimlessly in the Gulf of Alaska. A boarding party is sent across, and finds everything aboard the ship is dead. The cutters doctor goes across, only to find that the previous boarding party are also amongst the dead. The doctor realizes to late that he is also doomed.

NUMA lead by Dirk Pitt is sent in to find the source of a deadly nerve agent, the cause of the deaths. Whilst exploring a stricken derelict ship which has been found inland, a close (female) friends suit is pierced, and dies. Pitt swears revenge on the people responsible for stealing the toxin and ship.

Pitt starts the search but is called off when the President and all aboard the Presidential yacht disappear, leaving no trace. Pitt discovers how the ship disappears, and is responsible for the discovery of the crew, but thankfully not the President. Pitt leaves the disappearance of the President to the relevant government agencies, and starts looking for the history of the Pilottown. Unknowingly, he is also on the trail of the missing President.

Time is running out for Pitt. His on/off girlfriend has also become accidentally mixed up in the affair, and the race is on to find the Vice President, and Loren.

What is the secret of the Pilottown and its connection with the San Marino, the Bougainville shipping Empire, and the mysterious Korean crew?

Review

This is a great story. Cussler runs two seemingly incompatible plot lines simultaneously, which later merge into one. Pitt is faced with a seriously deadly enemy who thinks nothing of life and kills without compunction. Pitt tries his usual trick of stirring things up, which seriously back fires, when his opponent decides to blow him up.

This is a true cold war story of USA v the Soviet Union. The Soviets with the help of their mercenary partners decide to control the mind of the President. Herein lies the main plot floor of the story. When the President returns he decides to become dictator, and seizes control of the USA. In all likelihood they would let the President ease back in and make minor changes to policy rather than the headlong plunge into the abyss in the story.

The Bougainvilles are Cusslers most fearsome (and loathsome) couple to date. The solution to any problem seems to be kill. The Bougainvilles think nothing of a double cross to achieve their aims, and even destroy a Russian luxury Liner when they are double crossed by the Soviets.

Strong characters, good plot lines (including the huge insurance scam), and a very novel confrontation with Lee Tong, the rescue of the Vice President make for a compelling read, and again shows Cusslers growing confidence in writing.

There is only one minor weakness in the plot line concerning the President, which stops the story from getting a rating of four. It is however one of Cusslers better novels.

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