Admiral Jake Grafton takes his wife, Callie, along when the U.S. government sends him to Hong Kong to find out how deeply the American consul-general is embedded in a political money-raising scandal. And why not? Jake and Callie met and fell in love in Hong Kong during the Vietnam War, and the consul-general is a friend from those days.

The Graftons quickly discover, however, that Hong Kong is a powder keg ready to explode. A political murder and the closure of a foreign bank by the communist government are the sparks that light the fuse.

When Callie is kidnapped by a rebel faction, Jake finds himself drawn into the vortex of a high-tech civil war. To save his wife, he must figure out whom he can trust — both among the Western factions vying for control of the volatile situation, and among the Chinese patriots fighting for their nation's future — and make sure the right side wins.