The clash of civilizations will be won . . . by the highest bidder.

Newly inaugurated president Joseph Gardner has followed through on his pledge to pull American forces out of Iraq. But the region has quickly re-emerged as a hot zone, as Kurdish nationalist attacks have led the Republic of Turkey to invade northern Iraq. Reluctant to recommit U.S. troops, the commander-in-chief turns to former president Kevin Martindale and retired Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, who have left government behind for the lucrative world of military contracting. Their private firm, Scion Aviation International, is suddenly the only credible armed force in the region capable of blunting the Turks' advances. America's most lethal military contractor has become more powerful than anyone anticipated too powerful for even the President to control.

Now Patrick McLanahan is going rogue, determined to take the fight directly to the Turks, and no one is going to stop him. But where does his loyalty ultimately lie: with his country, his commander-in-chief, his fellow warriors . . . or with his company's shareholders?