"It's the near future—sooner than you might hope. Three young FBI agents are graduating from the Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Terrifying challenges face them.

Nuclear and biological weapons are in the hands of Islamic radicals, and the West is emerging from years of grossly incompetent rule.

The world has driven itself to crazy extremes. The Dome of the Rock has been blown to pieces by terrorists, and in retaliation, thousands have died in another major attack on the United States, the equal of 9-11. Rumors fly through international capitals of a plague targeted to ethnic groups—Jews or Muslims or both. No one feels safe.

As with the American Anthrax terror following 9-11, a potential new domestic assault falls under the jurisdiction of the FBI. But the FBI itself is under threat of political extinction. There is a good chance the new agents—William Griffin, Fouad Al-Husam, and Jane Rowland--will be part of the last class at "the Q." As internal and international investigations reveal horror upon horror, they join forces with veteran bioterror investigator Rebecca Rose to prevent a joint attack on the world's greatest religious cities—Jerusalem, Rome, and the Hajj in Mecca—using an unexpected final weapon.