In Washington, D.C., on a night full of rain, a woman is struck down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. But she is not just any woman, she is the assistant to the head of the secret White House department known only as the Basement. And she had secrets of her own. In the Virgin Islands, former president Jake Cazalet receives a warning. He is recuperating on a diving trip after successfully helping Sean Dillon and the rest of the 'Prime Minister's private army' defeat an Al Qaeda operation in London. But though AQ may be weakened and facing competition from other terrorist upstarts, it is far from dead, and it intends to prove it. Soon the ripples from these two events will spread and overlap, not only in Washington but around the world. Everyone involved will find themselves in the most desperate battle of their lives.

"In Washington, D.C., on a night full of rain, a woman is struck down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. But she is not just any woman--she is the assistant to the head of the secret White House department known only as the Basement. And she had secrets of her own. In the Virgin Islands, former president Jake Cazalet receives a warning. He is recuperating on a diving trip after successfully helping Sean Dillon and the rest of the "Prime Minister's private army" defeat an Al Qaeda operation in London. But though AQ may be weakened and facing competition from other terrorist upstarts, it is far from dead--and it intends to prove it. Soon the ripples from these two events will spread and overlap, not only in Washington but around the world. Everyone involved will find themselves in the most desperate battle of their lives--and the midnight bell will toll"--

In Washington, D.C., on a night full of rain, a woman is struck down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. But she is not just any woman, she is the assistant to the head of the secret White House department known only as the Basement. And she had secrets of her own. In the Virgin Islands, former president Jake Cazalet receives a warning. He is recuperating on a diving trip after successfully helping Sean Dillon and the rest of the 'Prime Minister₂s private army' defeat an Al Qaeda operation in London. But though AQ may be weakened and facing competition from other terrorist upstarts, it is far from dead, and it intends to prove it. Soon the ripples from these two events will spread and overlap, not only in Washington but around the world. Everyone involved will find themselves in the most desperate battle of their lives.

"In Northern Ireland, a petty criminal kills a woman in a drunken car crash. In London, Sean Dillon and his colleagues, fresh from defeating an al-Qaeda operation, receive a warning: You may think you have weakened us, but you have only made us stronger. In Washington, D.C., a CIA special projects director, frustrated at not getting presidential permission for his daring anti-terrorism plan, decides to put it in motion anyway. Soon, the ripples from these events will meet and overlap, creating havoc in their wake. Desperate men will act, secrets will be revealed--and the midnight bell will toll."--Page [4] of cover.

"The new Sean Dillon novel, a knife-edge story of terrorism and revenge, by "the dean of intrigue novelists" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). "The bell tolls at midnight as death requires it." In Washington, D.C., on a night full of rain, a woman is struck down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. But she is not just any woman--she is the assistant to the head of the secret White House department known only as the Basement. And she had secrets of her own. In the Virgin Islands, former president Jake Cazalet receives a warning. He is recuperating on a diving trip after successfully helping Sean Dillon and the rest of the "Prime Minister's private army" defeat an Al Qaeda operation in London. But though AQ may be weakened and facing competition from other terrorist upstarts, it is far from dead--and it intends to prove it. Soon the ripples from these two events will spread and overlap, not only in Washington but around the world. Everyone involved will find themselves in the most desperate batt