Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher arrives on a bus from Nashville to a nearby town and gets off to buy coffee. He wants to immediately continue on his endless journey across the United States. He has a roll of bills, a passport, a credit card and a toothbrush in his pocket and all the time in the world. But his stop will not be as short as he intended. The town is crippled by a cyberattack that Rusty Rutherford, who is in charge of the town's servers and network, should have prevented - but didn't. Not only did he lose his seat immediately, but the residents also let him know indiscriminately that they'd rather he wasn't there at all. Reacher notices him when someone tries to drag Rutherford into a car and kidnap him. However, the kidnappers are not angry local people, there are other interests, other organizations and - another state at play. As always, Reacher hopes that everything will turn out for the best, but he is also prepared for the worst ending.