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Ralph Dempsey's expertise in nuclear physics, particularly in atomic armaments, is on full display during Operation Sapphire, a partnership between the U.S. and Kazakhstan to mitigate the spread of nuclear capabilities. Disabling the bomb with mere seconds left on the timer, it appears that Dr. Dempsey can do no wrong. However, a firestorm of events that sends his life into upheaval is imminent. Though the narrative is crafted on the backdrop of an electric, action-packed plot featuring atomic weapons, the focus on relationships, whether it be the father-son dynamic or the husband and wife one is unmistakable.
Perhaps the most jarring scene of the entire novel features an inebriated Dempsey in a decrepit apartment, having lost his son Chris to a piloting career in Anchorage, his wife Barbara to divorce, and himself to alcohol. When the author takes a break from the plot's breakneck speed, there is a distinct aura of philosophical musings, from contemplating "beauty in ugliness" to the idea of embracing or surrendering to fear. With a divided family and seemingly nothing to live for, the entrance of Vince Killgore marks a turning point in Dempsey's destiny. As a former Air Force member turned arms dealer, Killgore offers Dempsey ten million dollars to help him retrieve the trigger from a B-41 thermonuclear device that was part of the botched, discreet Midnight Sun Operation decades before.
When Dempsey turns Killgore's offer down, a flurry of action ensues that reels in the FBI, a shaman with a strong vision of individual destinies, and pits all the main characters together on a mountain in Shishmaref, a small Alaskan village. In many ways, this novel marks the coming-of-age for the entire Dempsey family. It is a meaningful testament to the lengths people will go for the welfare of their families.