Terrorism for profit. In The Gambit, terrorist events are "engineered" to spike global oil markets for personal profit and political and strategic goals. The audacious manipulation of events soon spirals oil prices out of control, undermining economies and the reelection prospects of a U.S. president, co-opted by the actions of the conspiracy underway. A conspiracy led by a wealthy Saudi prince who has the goods on the occupant of the White House; a conspiracy operating under the cover of shadowy militant groups, seducing a Houston oilman to subjecting his own company to terrorist assault. Tipped off by a mysterious Lebanese banker, the U.S. mounts a furious effort to thwart the operation. But, it becomes eerily apparent that the President's first priority is to terminate the banker at all costs. Hastings, the top American intelligence official, acting against orders, desperately attempts to keep the banker alive long enough to understand the full dimensions of the treachery underway, culminating in the truth about the Prince and President dumped upon an unsuspecting electorate in the closing days of the election. The Gambit's wild ride through scheming oil traders, unstable markets, political blackmail, desperation and greed produces an uncomfortable premise: to what extent has the conspiracy already occurred?