In the wake of the Japanese Empire's surrender in September 1945, a handful of powerful men will rise in the shadows to set the course of America's future. Hoover, Love, Torrantio, Thomas, Capers, Smith, Bowen, Carter: taken together, their work covers everything from organized crime and oil drilling to government intelligence and mass media. Each has his own role to play as part of the 8MEN: a para-government organization dedicated to keeping the United States on top of the world. With communism on the rise throughout Asia and parts of eastern Europe, this group of devoted capitalists must prevent that profit-destroying philosophy from reaching America's shores - even if they must break bonds with wartime allies to do so. As the 8MEN put together a plan for nationwide control, Citadel graduate Ricky Teed finds himself selected to study espionage tactics in Israel. His superiors seem to believe in him, despite his lack of formal military training. What he doesn't know is that his talents are in high demand, and not just from the government. Teed and his partner-turned-lover, a Holocaust survivor, are about to become the 8MEN's goto assassins. Their target is of the highest possible profile - young progressive John F. Kennedy - leaving Teed to wonder¿ ¿ Is assassinating the president always an act of treason?