Bestselling author Stephen Coonts called Gandt's debut novel, With Hostile Intent, "a red-hot aerial shoot-'em-up by an aviation pro." Now former Navy pilot Robert Gandt brings back his fighter pilot hero, Brick Maxwell, and the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan-for the biggest challenge of their careers. A motor launch carrying the USS Ronald Reagan 's top brass is attacked. Everyone on board is killed, including two admirals and an American ambassador. The United States vows a swift reprisal. Enter squadron skipper Brick Maxwell and his Roadrunners-the jocks who fly the F/A-18 Super Hornets. Their mission: an air strike deep in Nothern Yemen's highlands. Their target: Colonel Jamal Al-Fasr, the charismatic commander who masterminded the plot to kill the admirals.

But Al-Fasr is a skilled fighter pilot who learned his craft in the United States-and with his insider's edge, he has laid a deadly trap for Maxwell and the warriors of the Reagan battle group. Yemen has become a killing ground.