When
a US Coast Guard cutter intercepts a private yacht in the Gulf
of Mexico, the crew discovers that the owner and his family have
been brutally murdered. They also discover a quantity of cocaine.
The
US
has been preparing to interdict aerial drug shipments in the
Gulf by gathering intelligence in Columbia with specially trained
US
Army troops and using the information to intercept the inbound
drugs. The
murder catalyzes the administration into accelerating the operation,
named SHOWBOAT, and increasing its effectiveness by allowing
a greater freedom of action by the intercepting officers. In the
meantime, Admiral
James Greer has become ill with cancer and Jack Ryan has assumed
the responsibilities of the Deputy Director of Intelligence as
acting DDI.
Among Ryan's new duties is the job of briefing the Congressional
Intelligence Oversight Committee about any operations in the field.
Because Ryan is new at the job, and because Bob Ritter doesn't trust
him, Jack is not informed about operation SHOWBOAT. Between the increased
interdiction efforts and the discovery of some incredible information
from the murder investigation, the Medellin Cartel headed by Ernesto
Escobedo is badly hurt. The Cartel retaliates, which causes the President
to make a secret finding that the Cartel is a Clear and Present Danger
to US National Security interests. Operation SHOWBOAT is cancelled
and Operation RECIPROCITY begins. And Jack Ryan still knows nothing
about it. The United States has become engaged in what could be an
unsupported covert war in a foreign country and Congress has not been
informed. From the opulent haciendas in Medellin Columbia to the backrooms
of Washington, DC, power politics is played with vicious treachery.
From the mountains of Columbia to the Gulf of Mexico to the southern
shores of the United States the drug war increases in tempo and violence.
There is a Clear and Present Danger, but for whom?
When
a US Coast Guard cutter intercepts a private yacht in the Gulf
of Mexico, the crew discovers that the owner and his family have
been brutally murdered. They also discover a quantity of cocaine.
The
US
has been preparing to interdict aerial drug shipments in the
Gulf by gathering intelligence in Columbia with specially trained
US
Army troops and using the information to intercept the inbound
drugs. The
murder catalyzes the administration into accelerating the operation,
named SHOWBOAT, and increasing its effectiveness by allowing
a greater freedom of action by the intercepting officers. In the
meantime, Admiral
James Greer has become ill with cancer and Jack Ryan has assumed
the responsibilities of the Deputy Director of Intelligence as
acting DDI.