Jack Meade wakes in a hospital bed. The doctors tell him he has been in the sea for two days - that he is lucky to be alive. His face is so salt ravaged he barely recognises himself. He has lost nearly all his memory. All he can remember is his name. And that is when the nightmare begins. For Jack Meade is the name of the President Elect of the United States. In Washington an exact double of Meade is preparing to take the Oath of Office, a man who thought he had killed Jack, a man who has taken his wife and fooled everyone in the country including Jack's closest associates. Meade realises he has only one option: to escape from the hospital, go to Washington and convince his wife and colleagues that he is the President. But the Usurper is now surrounded by the might of the Secret Service and America's armed forces. He has already tried to kill Jack once. Now with all the power of the Presidency behind him, he will try to silence forever the one man who knows about the deception that has tricked the world.