1969 THE COLD WAR IS IN FLUX. While Nixon balances Soviet détente by opening relations with China, Combat Controller Jake Crowley is in the jungles of Honduras, leading a joint operation to crush leftist guerillas threatening American interests. Crowley experiences the brutality of warfare for the first time as he fights to gain control of a key airfield. After the mission, Crowley is told that a matter of national security requires his expertise in air traffic control at an NSA unit in West Germany. The catch? A Soviet spy reads Crowley's orders and becomes suspicious. He sends a coded message to Moscow, and the KGB dispatches their henchmen to counter the NSA's move. Crowley prevails and manages to complete his military intelligence training, marries his fiancé, Anna Maria, as planned, and together they travel to West Germany. As Crowley begins work at the NSA Surveillance and Warning Center, his wife secures a position at the armed forces newspaper headquarters. The clock runs down, the Soviet KGB closes in, and the Crowleys have to confront a shadow war where it is difficult to distinguish friends from foe. Meanwhile, his day job demands his concentration to hack into Soviet radar tracking before their wonder weapon is deployed and changes the balance of power forever. In his debut novel, Collins presents a kaleidoscope of globetrotting scenes, as men, women, military weapons and police forces play their roles in an intricate series of battles, individual acts of heroism, intrigue, tragedy and triumph.