 Searching for a treasure on the River Niger, Dirk Pitt thwarts the attempted assassination of a beautiful U.N. scientist investigating a disease that is driving thousands of North Africans to death. The suspected cause of the raging epidemic is vast, unprecedented pollution that threatens to extinguish all life in the world s seas. Racing to save the world from environmental catastrophe, Pitt and his team run a gauntlet between a billionaire French industrialist and a bloodthirsty West African tyrant. In the scorching desert, Pitt uncovers the truth behind his life-long quest - the fate of a Civil War ironclad. Now, amidst the blazing, shifting sands of the Sahara, Dirk Pitt will make a desperate stand -- in a battle the world cannot afford to lose!