The Prologue begins with a train traveling through the New York countryside. Richard Essex is resting in the luxurious Pullman, writing a letter to his wife to pass the time. There are five soldiers dressed in civilian garb playing cards in the ornately-decorated Pullman car. "It was perhaps the highest level of luxury any of them had every enjoyed, Essex speculated. The palatial transportation must have cost the government nearly seventy-five dollars a day, and all for the movement of scrap of paper" (Chapter 1, pg. 4).

Thus begins the exciting story of the missing treaty. The treaty was negotiated in 1914, before the outbreak of World War I. England needed money for the war effort and negotiated a treaty giving Canada to the United States in exchange for money. Within a few days the parties decided to destroy all evidence of the treaty. A missing train prevented the U.S. copy from reaching official sources, and a ship sinking prevented the British copy from reaching London.

In addition to this, there is now an acute oil shortage since the Middle East supplies are depleted. There will soon be no oil, and the United States is on the verge of insolvency and economic devastation. While on an underwater research mission, Dirk Pitt finds that there is a vast unknown underwater oil reserve in Canadian waters off the shores of Quebec. Quebec is already supplying fourteen U.S. states with electricity, and there is a referendum soon to be voted on for an independent Quebec. There is a very radical group in the province that supports independence, and the worry is that they will take control of the government once the province is independent. This means that the United States is dependent on a soon-to-be nation that will probably be oriented towards Moscow.

A naval officer, Heidi Milligan, working on her doctoral dissertation, finds a letter that refers to the treaty and is curious about it. There are no official references to the treaty except for a letter and a picture, but this is enough for her and her friend, Dirk Pitt, to begin an investigation of the facts. The missing treaty can save the United States and create a strong United States of Canada, if the provinces don't willingly join. Dirk Pitt is given the assignment of finding the missing treaty. The British bring one of their best agents out of retirement to prevent the Americans from finding the treaty.

Murder, suspense, love, intrigue - this novel has it all, as does every Clive Cussler book. This reader will find this book very exciting to read and will not want to put the book down until reaching the end. It is recommended reading for anyone who enjoys a good suspense novel.