The Silicon War is a fictional story depicting the theft and illegal export of sensitive U.S. electronic equipment and the federal government's efforts to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
The story begins with the discovery in the U.S. that equipment is being funneled to the Soviet Union and the near-simultaneous discovery in the U.S.S.R. that the U.S. has electronic surveillance capabilities far in excess of past assumptions. Each of these discoveries triggers a series of complex and dangerous events, bringing both sides together in a surprising manner. It includes a frantic chase across the Soviet Union in which CIA agents try to save the lives of two Soviet bureaucrats by getting them out of the Soviet Union into Finland. The story concludes by portraying the ultimate outcome of the events in the lives of the characters.