Code Word : Paternity

The Armageddon genie--nuclear terrorism--is out of the bottle, freed by bin-Laden's heedless avengers and "a pissant dictator with Ray-Bans and a fondness for movies," as America's president describes North Korea's ruler a few hours before announcing a decision that will mark him forever as either a hero or a mass murderer.

In a twenty-first century Pearl Harbor, nuclear terrorism takes its first city--Las Vegas--and stalks Baltimore. The terrorists have no return address--but the nuke they used does. A scientific trail scented by an ultra-secret U.S. program hidden for years behind the code word "Paternity" points toward the nation that made the bomb.

But there's no smoking gun. Struggling to lead a divided, panicked America, wring support from uncertain allies, and blunt the opportunism of rivals, the president faces an ethical dilemma threatening his marriage, his presidency, and his very soul. As commander-in-chief, controlling nearly unfathomable power to retaliate, he can put the Armageddon genie back in the bottle--but at what cost and to whom? Ambition, conscience, and duty collide as heads of state, politicians, diplomats, and generals maneuver with the lives of millions at stake.

These days Doug Norton is into grandfathering, writing the next novel in this series, volunteering, and sailing. But there was a time . . . As a naval officer throughout most of the cold war, Doug had personal experience with nuclear weapons, both as objects of diplomacy and politics and as objects under his command responsibility--antisubmarine missiles that he might have to launch under cataclysmic circumstances.

That life journey, plus research, allows him to craft Paternity authentically. As a warship captain he held launch codes for nuclear weapons and was prepared to use them, but he also participated in high-stakes international negotiations to reduce their numbers and the chance of nuclear war. In Geneva, Brussels, and Washington he experienced diplomacy and politics in tense meetings, glittering receptions, and deadline-driven all-nighters. A graduate of the Naval Academy and of the University of Washington, the author was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and head of international studies at the Naval Academy. After more than twenty-five years' naval service, Doug was an executive recruiter for fifteen years. He and his wife live in Annapolis, Maryland where he volunteers with the Coast Guard Auxiliary in search and rescue and the Anne Arundel Medical Center in the emergency department.