Countdown to Mecca by Michael Savage
A plane bound for Jordan goes down in the Caspian Sea. The crash yields no survivors - save the hijacker and a cask containing an agent of unprecedented destructive potential is missing. A terrorist attack has been put into motion, and the resulting chaos might be enough to push America toward another costly war. The one man who might be able to stop the attack is Jack Hatfield, a freelance reporter who has never shied away from controversy. When his half-brother Sammy calls him, saying that his neighbour overheard something she shouldn't have and now both their lives are in danger, Jack realises he's stumbled upon a conspiracy to destroy Mecca. Now he must uncover who is behind the plot and stop them or else witness the collapse of the world into global destruction.