A runaway Jumbo jet has crashed into the Capitol Building in Washington, leaving the President dead along with most of the Cabinet and Congress. Dazed and confused, the man who only minutes before was confirmed as the new caretaker Vice-President is told that he is now President of the United States.

President John Patrick Ryan must navigate the complexities of running a government without a government. Where do you begin? Ryan knows that the eyes of the world are on him now—and many of them are unfriendly. In Beijing, Tehran, and even in Washington, there are those eager to take advantage.

Soon, they will make their moves; soon, they will present Jack Ryan with a crisis so immense that even he could not imagine it.