When Faron Sears— a rich, brilliant, messianic, Black ex-con— enters the presidential race and refuses to play by the old rules, he electrifies the electorate. But someone Faron trusts is a traitor, and someone else plots to become his assassin. The FBI agent assigned to save Faron's life is also ordered to protect the secret of a cover-up that threatens the Washington establishment. From the White House to the mountains of Idaho, the hunt for the traitor and assassin illuminates mysterious forces at work in politics, the media, and ordinary life.