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The plot revolves around a massive attack planned for the Super Bowl in New Orleans: the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, inspired by the real events of Munich in 1972, seeks revenge on America for its support of Israel. The main characters are Dahlia Iyad, a cold, charismatic and ruthless operative, and Michael Lander, a broken American Vietnam War veteran – a former pilot captured and tortured, who now pilots a blimp for TV broadcasts of NFL games. Lander is deeply frustrated, suicidal and wants to take with him as many of the "happy, carefree Americans" he sees from above every weekend. Together they plan the attack: a plastic bomb filled with a quarter of a million flechettes (sharpshooters) that would explode from the blimp's gondola above Tulane Stadium during the finals (Miami Dolphins vs. Washington Redskins), killing tens of thousands of people – including the President of the United States.

Opposite them are David Kabakov, an Israeli Mossad agent (a ruthless, efficient terrorist hunter) and Sam Corley of the FBI - they try to unravel the conspiracy through intelligence leads, interrogations and a race against time. The novel is fast-paced, precise, with tension building through detailed descriptions of preparations, psychological profiles and technical aspects (such as explosives, zeppelin, security measures). Harris writes coldly, almost documentary-wise - there is no pathos, but he has a deep understanding of the motivations of terrorists and victims. It's a "what if" scenario that sounded shocking in 1975, and today, after 9/11 and numerous terrorist threats to mass gatherings, seems disturbingly current.

The book inspired the 1977 film of the same name (dir. John Frankenheimer, with Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern and Martha Keller), which was a huge hit, but also controversial (due to the reality of the threat).