Having run short on cash, Reacher has paused in his travels and is working in Chicago when he stumbles into the kidnapping of FBI agent Holly Johnson. The pair are whisked across the US in the back of a van, while back in Chicago Holly's colleagues frantically piece together the puzzle of her sudden disappearance.
Arriving in a remote area of Montana, Reacher and Holly find themselves up against a well-armed militia led by a ruthless megalomaniac intent on more than simple secession. Holly is the daughter of a general - the head of the joint chiefs of staff. She's defensive about her family connections, having had to work hard to dispel notions of nepotism, so it's a while before she reveals to Reacher that she's also the President's god-daughter.
To add to the complications, there's a mole in the Chicago FBI team, and an undercover federal agent in the militia group. Before long, one betrays the other and the undercover agent dies a horrible death.
Even as they close in on the Montana camp, the FBI believe that Reacher was part of the kidnap team. Reacher's old CO, Colonel Leon Garber, arrives to convince them otherwise and ends up playing a critical role.
