A $15 million ransom. A plane down in the remote swamps of Darwin. A new partner who plays by the rules. Special Agent Vin Cooper isn't having a good week. After returning from an enforced sabbatical, still guilt-ridden over his partner Anna's death, Vin agrees to help out an acquaintance of hers - a Vegas showgirl. Alabama's boyfriend Randy is missing; his plane's gone down in mysterious circumstances and she's been sent a bloody ransom package. What starts as an informal missing person case spirals into a full-blown multi-agency screw-up. Not only was Randy hiding some very high-level secrets, but it also appears he is connected to a missing nuclear weapon. Worst-case scenario is that the warhead is in the hands of the tyrannical Benicio Von Weiss, a man with particular interests: luxury cruiseliners, busty blondes, Nazi memorabilia and poisonous snakes. And, of course, drugs, guns and vengeance against America.