Trigger Point

When US and China play nuclear wargames expect "as much gut-wrenching suspense as any thriller in recent memory" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

When American aid workers are massacred in Uganda by terrorists, President Tom Knowles opts for military intervention. It's his chance to put a stamp on world affairs. But for China, which considers Uganda its African sphere of influence, it's a bad, bad move.

Six weeks later, stock prices on Wall Street fall. Amid rumors of insolvency, a major bank leads the rout, refusing a government bailout. Its major shareholder: a Chinese sovereign investment corporation. As market slide turns to panic, Knowles suspects that the US economy is being manipulated by the Chinese government in retaliation for the Uganda offensive. When American pilots are downed and taken as hostage in South Sudan, Knowles takes drastic action. Now, off the coast of East Africa, as US and Chinese navies prepare for a standoff, the next move could prove catastrophic—for the entire world.

Prepare for an "action-driven, bite-your-nails . . . fast-paced, emotionally tense and worrisomely true-to-life" (Kirkus Reviews) thriller. "It's The Big Short meets Seven Days in May and Thirteen Days in October. It's a book where Gordon Gekko, not Dr. Strangelove, has his hand on the button. It's a chilling vision of a very plausible, very scary future where Wall Street, the White House, and the Pentagon intersect—and nobody wins and people die. I loved it." (Mike Lawson, author of House Witness).

© 2012 Atlantic Monthly Press (Ebook): 9780802194817

Release date

Ebook: 6 March 2012