Badly injured while stopping a rogue agent from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, elite warrior Eric Steele is drawn back into service before he's ready when unknown assailants break into his home near Pittsburgh, injuring his mother and stealing his father's pistol. An Alpha-an elite soldier under the direct command of the president of the United States-Steele is hell-bent on finding the attackers and bringing them to justice. While tracking his foe, Steele discovers he's become entangled in a far more sinister plan that's already been set in motion. A terrorist named Zakayev, once locked away in a maximum-security prison in Russia, has escaped and joined forces with Hassan Sitta, a man who's shown his prowess and ingenuity with a spectacular bomb planted somewhere in the Middle East that hasn't been ignited-and no one can find. But that is only the beginning of a horrifying plan that, if it succeeds, will shatter international alliances and bring the world to the brink of war. Now, the hunted must turn the tables on the hunter-Steele must find a way to stay alive and stop Zakayev before innocent lives are lost.