China is growing in power and in need of raw materials. When an aggressive general, with encouragement from an unnamed puppet master in the Politburo, moves to seize the Spratly Islands from the Philippines and Taiwan, the Marines of the 15th MEU are the only unit in position to do anything about it. What makes things more difficult is that the Chinese have made great strides in cyber warfare that have negated America's technological superiority. What will be the result of years of letting China manufacture electronic components and even parts for the U.S. aircraft, satellites, and communications systems?

"Every Marine is a rifleman" has never been more true when the ultimate weapon in the nation's arsenal is the basic infantryman. But can Captain Tony Niimoto, a hero of both the embassy takeover in New Delhi and the hostage rescue in Somalia, lead his company against an overwhelming force of the finest of the People's Liberation Army? Can Sergeant Harrington Steptoe, Sergeant "Jay" McNamara, and First Lieutenant Peter Van Slyke step up into the mantle of leadership when all the odds are against them?

This is volume three of The Return of the Marines. Some of the characters have been introduced in the previous volumes, but The Marines is a standalone book in its own right.