Part of Dirk Pitt®, book 5
First published 2006
In 1954, a military aircraft carrying thirty-six canisters of deadly biological agents crashes into a frozen Colorado lake and disappears. Thirty-four years later, marine engineer Dirk Pitt discovers the wreckage of Vixen 03 during a dive. The find turns sinister when Pitt realizes two of the lethal canisters are missing from the crash site. A terrorist organization has seized the biological weapons and hatched an audacious plan to destroy Washington, D.C. They intend to sail a battleship up the Potomac River and unleash devastation on the capital. With the government unaware of the approaching threat, Pitt becomes the only person who can prevent mass destruction. He must track down the terrorists and stop their attack before they reach their target. The clock runs down as Pitt fights to save thousands of lives from weapons that should have remained buried beneath the ice.
Genres: historical-fiction, military-fiction, adventure, thriller, action, espionage
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: race-against-time, secret-organization
Setting: Colorado, Potomac River, Washington D.C.
Period: 1954, 1988
384 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Bantam
Content warnings: violence