BALANCE OF POWER Tom Clancy meets David Baldacci in this electrifying debut -- a blockbuster tale of terrorism, naval action, legal intrigue, and a historic showdown on Capitol Hill.Balance of Power opens with a bang when pirates hijack the world's fastest merchant ship in a ruthless plan to spark an international incident. Instead, the attack provokes a Constitutional crisis -- and splits the U.S. government down the middle.Jim Dillon, Special Assistant to the Speaker of the House, discovers a long-forgotten clause in the Constitution that allows Congress to take military action without presidential approval, and his ambitious boss sees an opportunity to humiliate his rival in the Oval Office. Over at the White House, Dillon's old friend Molly is working feverishly on a legal strategy to block the Speaker's gambit; the case moves swiftly toward the Supreme Court -- and a trial drama that equals anything found in a Grisham thriller.Meanwhile, in the Pacific, a "rogue" U.S. Navy battle group races toward a deadly rendezvous with terrorists. With H-Hour drawing ever closer, fighter jocks, Navy SEALs, and Marine assault teams prepare for action in a frenzy of activity that sweeps from the carrier's high-tech intelligence center to the high-tension cockpit of an F-14 to the Marines storming ashore on a tropical island. The author was a carrier pilot himself, and the military scenes crackle with authentic detail that outdoes Clancy.Flashing between the political clash in Washington and the countdown to assault halfway around the globe,  Balance of Power builds to a suspenseful crescendo that blends political battles, legal skirmishing, and naval warfare into a blockbuster that's sure to explode onto bestseller lists all over America.