(Bruce Highland #9.) A rogue, dishonored Army soldier bequeaths a deadly gift to his son upon his death in a military stockade - a portable tactical nuclear launcher. The seeds do not fall far from the tree. This is the saga of ace detective Bruce Highland's understudy, Rodd Mace, as he tracks a deranged psychopath, Connor Sharpe, in an attempt to stop him before he can secure the weapon and use it for extortion and revenge in a major urban area.