Paul Hannon, a geologist researching floods, receives a confidential call from the FBI requiring his presence at a meeting in Washington D.C. There Paul is stunned to learn of a potential terrorist plot to blow up a dam on the Colorado River. If successful, the blast would trigger a catastrophic flood, killing thousands and cutting off water and power supplies to major cities in the southwest. Paul, whose personal life is in crisis, is now thrust into a world unlike any he has ever known as he and Carol Newsome, an FBI counterterrorism agent, travel to the Middle East to gather information in hopes of stopping the attack. Just as the President prepares for a visit to the Grand Canyon, Paul and his graduate student make a shocking discovery about just who may be behind the plot.