It is 2030, and America is on the brink. In the face of an ever-more-perilous environmental crisis and ever-more-tenuous global tensions, President Herbert Chase Hastings is stoking the fires of unrest as no American leader ever has before. His alignment with militias and religious extremists, his intolerance for diversity and science, and his ties to dangerous regimes and unscrupulous businesses have made him the champion of a bold, vocal, and deadly minority. Meanwhile, the remainder of America -- and much of the world -- either raises its voice in protest or quakes in fear. Journalist Jay Patterson has been following Hastings since before his election, and he knows the risks the president poses better than most. And when a secret source starts feeding Jay information that suggests that the country is in even greater peril, he chooses to risk everything to act. But even Jay has underestimated the reach of America's chief executive... and it may be too late for anyone to stop what Hastings has set into motion.