Hades – that ancient place of Greek mythology we now call Hell – is the name of a seemingly unbeatable doomsday virus. For three frantic days, scientists in a US government laboratory have been trying to unlock the virus’s secrets as people across the continent die in excruciating agony. Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Jonathan ‘Jon’ Smith, MD, is summoned to a clandestine meeting in the dark of night in a Washington DC park with his oldest friend, an FBI agent. Suddenly attacked, Smith escapes home to find the woman he loves is dying of the virus.

Smith is a surgeon and career soldier with intelligence training. Assigned to the army’s high security Hot Zone infectious diseases institute at Fort Detrick, Maryland, he quickly uncovers evidence that his lover’s death was no accident. Everywhere he turns for information, Smith is stopped by forces he can’t see or name. Convinced she was murdered, he turns rogue to find the killer. Joining forces with a beautiful CIA agent, he uncovers a horrifying plot to infect millions with a deadly pandemic.