The world's most powerful leaders are gathering in Los Angeles for the G-8 summit, unaware that they have been targeted by two separate terrorist groups, each with its own lethal agenda. Uncovering and disarming one bomb would be difficult enough; eliminating both will be nearly impossible. On the trail of a rabid Islamic assassin, rogue CTU agent Jack Bauer doesn't know that another conspiracy is brewing around him—a poisonous plot to violently dictate the future of the free world. If Bauer does nothing, in twenty-four hours the entire planet may be plunged into chaos, its primary heads of state ruthlessly destroyed. But if he acts, his daughter Kim will die instead.

The world's most powerful leaders are gathering in Los Angeles for the G-8 summit, unaware that they have been targeted by two separate terrorist groups, each with its own lethal agenda. Uncovering and disarming one bomb would be difficult enough; eliminating both will be nearly impossible. On the trail of a rabid Islamic assassin, rogue CTU agent Jack Bauer doesn't know that another conspiracy is brewing around him—a poisonous plot to violently dictate the future of the free world. If Bauer does nothing, in twenty-four hours the entire planet may be plunged into chaos, its primary heads of state ruthlessly destroyed. But if he acts, his daughter Kim will die instead.

Area 51: America's top-secret advanced military testing ground, hidden away in the Nevada desert, where the awesome weapons of tomorrow are being developed. But a mole inside the impregnable facility has been leaking highly advanced killing technology to America's worst enemies . . . who intend to turn its destructive power on an unsuspecting nation before the day is out. Agent Jack Bauer has a mere twenty-four hours to derail a horrific plot, as a deadly endgame takes shape in the neon glare of nearby Las Vegas. But to do so, the rogue CTU operative will have to lead an impossible assault on Area 51 itself—and expose a lethal string of betrayal and corruption that leads from the terrorists to the underworld and all the way into the heart of the U.S. government.

In a remote corner of New Jersey is a nation within a nation—a refuge for fanatical converts and fervent believers. But within the confines of the secluded Islamic community of Kurmastan, plans are underway to spread fear, death, and untold destruction across America . . . and to deliver one fatal blow to the country's exposed and vulnerable heart. On the East coast to supervise the activation of CTU's New York office, rogue agent Jack Bauer finds himself in the center of an unleashed hurricane perhaps already too powerful to stop. But if it isn't, in twenty-four hours the U.S. will be brought to its knees by a secret army grown on its own earth. And there is no one Jack Bauer can trust—because the roots of the terror go very deep . . . and frighteningly high.

Operating out of a nearly empty space in Los Angeles, the newly created CTU faces its first major crisis. A large amount of plastique explosive has vanished and could be anywhere—with criminals, crazies, outlaw bikers . . . or in the bloodstained hands of Islamic radicals. As powerful representatives of the world's major religions gather for a conference on faith, peace, and coexistence, agents of the newborn elite counterterrorism unit must chase elusive shadows through the underbelly of L.A. A nightmare of assassination and terror is looming, tied to the darkest secrets of the church—an explosive threat that must be exposed and defused within twenty-four hours, or violent repercussions will be felt around the world. And only one man possesses the necessary passion, ruthless skill, and willingness to operate outside his jurisdiction and beyond the limits of the law: a dangerous rogue CIA operative . . . named Jack Bauer.

The eyes of the world are watching A powerful world leader is expected to join the Hollywood elite at a star-studded ceremony to be broadcast around the globe. But security has been severely compromised -- and a plot is already in motion to turn the Los Angeles Chamberlain Auditorium into a gruesome slaughterhouse. When an on-line "Trojan Horse" detected by the CTU cyber unit sends up red flags, rogue operative Jack Bauer is called into action. He has less than twenty-four hours to prevent an unthinkable act of death and destruction from occurring -- a televised massacre intended to topple a foreign government and bring terror into millions of American households. The countdown is on.

In less than twenty-four hours, in a palatial hideaway in the mountains of Colorado, a group of America's most powerful industrialists will be gathering for their annual summit. The bizarre disappearance of all the members of a local crackpot cult—and of two ATF agents assigned to keep an eye on them—may have no connection whatsoever to the impending high-powered conference. But with so many corporate titans grouped together in one location, CTU can't afford to take chances. Sent to investigate, Jack Bauer is immediately plunged into a maelstrom of treachery, terror, and slaughter as he uncovers clues to a devastating conspiracy that could leave America's most essential institutions in ruins. And now the rogue CTU operative has only hours to prevent the unthinkable—before the relentlessly approaching storm of blood and fire rocks his nation to its foundations.