There was trouble brewing on Mars—bad trouble. Two giant industrial empires fought for control there, and their struggle imperilled the whole Mars colony. Civil war—atomic civil war second—could break out any second, leaving Earth's only foothold in space a mass of radioactive rubble. One man was needed to take charge—one man who could act fast and decisively, brutally if he had to. Ralph Graham got the job. And then the people around him started to die... (Goodreads)