After almost a decade, Tom Clancy - the acknowledged master of international intrigue and nonstop military action - returns to the world he knows better than anyone: a world of chaos, caught in the crossfire of politics and power, placed on the edge of annihilation by evil men. But there are other men who are honor-bound to stop the bloodshed and protect their homeland - by any means necessary ... It is called the Campus. It was secretly created under the administration of President Jack Ryan, its sole purpose to hunt down, locate, and eliminate terrorists and those who protect them, at will, without sanction or oversight. A self-sufficient entity, it has no official connection to the American government - a necessity in a time when those in power consider themselves above such arcane concepts as loyalty, justice, and right or wrong. Covert intelligence expert Jack Ryan Jr. and his compatriots at the Campus have waged this silent war in every corner of the world. Now joined by two of his father's closest allies, black ops warriors John clark and "Ding" Chavez, as well as Brian and Dominic Caruso and Mary Pat Foley, the Cmapus has come up against its greatest foe: a sadistic killer known as the Emir. The mastermind of countless horrific attacks, the Emir has eluded capture by every law enforcement agency in the world - a fact that the Campus is determined to change. But his greatest devastation is yet to be unleashed, as he plans a monumental single strike that will destroy the heart of America, unless the Campus can take him, dead or alive. -- from dust jacket.