Jack Ryan has only just moved back into the Oval Office when he is faced with a new international threat. An aborted coup in the People's Republic of China has left President Wei Zhen Lin with no choice but to agree with the expansionist policies of General Su Ke Quiang. They have declared the South China Sea a protectorate and are planning an invasion of Taiwan. The Ryan administration is determined to thwart these Chinese ambitions, but the stakes are dangerously high as hundreds of Chinese anti-ship missiles thwart the US Navy's plans to protect the island. Meanwhile, Chinese cyber warfare experts have launched a devastating attack on American infrastructure. It's a new combat arena, but it's every bit as deadly as any that has gone before. Jack Ryan, Jr. and his colleagues at the Campus may be just the wild card that his father needs to stack the deck. There's just one problem: someone knows about the off-the-books intelligence agency and may be ready to blow their cover sky high.

The Ninja Meerkats fly down to the Australian outback to investigate, and discover strange goings-on in the desert. Who else could be behind it but that top-hatted menace, the Ringmaster? He is building missiles to take control of the world. With boxing kangaroos and killer koalas, not to mention the Ringmaster's crew of deadly circus goons, this is one deadly desert mission.