Jim Dillon

When an American cargo ship off the coast of Indonesia is seized by terrorists and its crew slaughtered, the sitting Congress demands revenge. The president's refusal to react aggressively leads to mounting resentment. Then an ambitious young congressional assistant, Jim Dillon, discovers a long-forgotten clause in America's Constitution that could be used to wrest power from the chief executive-inciting a devastating constitutional crisis and plunging the country into chaos. Now, a battle group steams toward a fateful confrontation in the Java Sea, commissioned by Congress and opposed by the president. Dillon finds himself in the center of a firestorm that rages from the highest court in the land to the killing fields half a world away, as the great nation prepares for war-with itself.

With a feel for politics, a gift for legal drama, and a rush of military action, this rousing novel sweeps from the Oval Office to a Navy SEAL assault on an Indonesian island, from the court-martial of an admiral to the impeachment hearings of a president. The president has ordered the arrest and trial of a battle-group commander who led a congressionally authorized attack on terrorists in defiance of a presidential order. The angry Speaker of the House retaliates by initiating impeachment proceedings. Jim Dillon, the Speaker's top aide, finds himself defending the admiral in the court-martial and is named number-two prosecutor for the upcoming impeachment trial. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific, a fanatic plans to exploit the weaknesses of an American government in upheaval by brutally shedding American blood and taking innocent citizens hostage. But Dillon uncovers another forgotten power in the Constitution: the Rules of Capture, authorizing a SEAL-led attack. Nothing will prevent a great nation from doing what is right, no matter what the price, not when the honor and the future of America is at stake.