Wow, what a kick-ass launch to a new series from the alternate-history mastermind of the Axis of Time books.

On the eve of the Iraq war, a strange energy wave wipes out the Continental U.S., most of Canada, all of Mexico and half of Cuba.

People inside the wave are either incinerated or tuirned to goo, and the rest of the world is instantly thrown into turmoil.

The U.S., however, still moves ahead on Iraq, France devolves to civil war, England shuts its borders, and a small group of smugglers hold off invaders in a luxury yacht once owned by Golfer Greg Norman.

Nobody knows how the "Disappearance" happened, but the surviving states, Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, are dealing with food riots and shortages, and acid rain.

Add to this an assassin stuck behind French lines, and an embedded U.S. reporter, and you have a rich mix.

Anyone who loves the possible should check out this book.