The oily and brackish waters of the Russian Northern Fleet submarine base part for the passage of the colossal special purpose Omega II-class submarine Belgorod, on a mission to hold the United States hostage. This gigantic submarine is armed with three Poseidon unmanned submersibles, each with a 10-megaton warhead. Her goal: placing them offshore in U.S. ports in a nuclear-blackmail chess move.

In response, the United States dispatches the newest special operations attack submarine, the Virginia-class USS New Jersey, which lies in wait to follow Belgorod under the polar icecap. Because every submariner knows that what happens under the ice...never happened.

Legendary former admiral and current National Security Advisor Michael Pacino and his son Anthony, a combat-decorated veteran of undersea warfare, return in this epic novel of submarine-versus-submarine warfare.