Alex Cross is on his way to resign from the Police Department when his partner John Sampson shows up at his door. One of Sampson's oldest friends has been framed for murder and, worse yet, is subject to the insular laws of the U.S. Army. The evidence is strong enough to send him to the gas chamber. Cross and Sampson plunge into a case where military codes of honor conceal dark currents of revenge and ambition, and the men controlling the moves have the best weapons and training the world can offer. Drawing on their years of street training and an almost telepathic mutual trust, Cross and Sampson go deep into military lines to confront the most terrifying -- and lethal -- killer they have ever encountered.