BURKE HALLOWAY a war photographer who has lived in self-imposed exile in the far corners of the world for a decade, returns to Colorado when his brother is severely injured in an accident. At first, he blasts the doctor, JORDAN MATTHEWS, for what he imagines must be substandard care in a small Rocky Mountain hospital–he wants his comatose brother transferred to Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic “or someplace that matters.” Then he learns that she’s one of the world’s premier neurosurgeons, whose experimental techniques have not only saved his brother’s life but are speeding his recovery. As Burke begins to see her in a different light, he also starts falling in love with her. But their tranquility is shattered when Burke discovers his brother’s accident wasn’t an accident–the head of a telecom firm tried to kill him, and is still trying. Following an attack on the hospital and a near-death experience for Jordan, Burke allies himself with an ex-CIA operative to uncover what is driving these attempts to murder those he loves. In the end, he must penetrate the defenses of the telecom, where he will uncover–and try to subvert–an international plot to destroy the U.S. with its own nuclear defenses.