Code Word: Paternity

Read Code Word: Paternity Storyline:

The Armageddon genie—nuclear terrorism—is out of the bottle, freed by bin-Laden’s heedless avengers and “a pissant dictator with Ray-Bans and a fondness for movies,” as America’s president puts it privately a few hours before announcing a decision that will mark him forever as either a hero or a mass murderer.In a twenty-first century Pearl Harbor, nuclear terrorism takes its first city—Las Vegas—and stalks Baltimore. The terrorists have no return address—but the nuke they used does. A scientific trail scented by an ultra-secret U.S. program hidden for years behind the code word “Paternity” points toward the nation that made the bomb. But there’s no smoking gun. Struggling to lead a divided, panicked America, wring support from uncertain allies, and blunt the opportunism of rivals, the president faces an ethical dilemma threatening his marriage, his presidency, and his very soul. As commander-in-chief, controlling nearly unfathomable power to retaliate, he can put the Armageddon genie back in the bottle—but at what cost and to whom? Ambition, conscience, and duty collide as heads of state, politicians, diplomats, and generals maneuver with the lives of millions at stake.Code Word: Paternity is forthcoming in trade paperback from Dog Ear Press in November 2012.