On the Pacific island of Saipan A wealthy Japanese businessman regards his new bought land with satisfaction. Indian Ocean off Sir Lanka a foreign Navy begins a series of highly unusual exercises. As the headquarters of America's major stock-clearing corporation, and engineer brings a customized computer program online for the first time, and smiles at his own private joke. These seemingly unrelated incidents but all have just the first links in the chain of events that will stun the world. Called out of retirement to serve as a new President's National Security Advisor, Jack Ryan quickly realizes that the problems of peace are fully as complex as those of war