In the 1950s the world is shivering from the Cold War. Not just from the increasingly frigid relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, but from the threat of nuclear destruction. The bomb is on the mind of every citizen. Air raid drills and bomb shelters are in vogue as the two nations build arsenals of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons that could destroy all life on earth. John Reese, a seemingly happy, well-adjusted nineteen-year-old, suddenly drops out of his first year of college and enlists in the Air Force. Trained in the maintenance of nuclear weapons systems, he embarks on an adventure that will take him to the heights and depths of romance and to dangers that no one could imagine. From the Deep South to the mountains of Germany, Reese must face the realities of a broken heart and a possible nuclear war.