New York City falls into chaos when an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon is set off in orbit, triggering the most massive power failure and blackout in history.
The blackout, whose epicenter is New York City, is far more serious than any ordinary mass power outage, since EMP destroys unprotected electrical and digital systems, including computers, automotive systems, radio and cellular communications, public transportation switching and control systems, street lighting and other vital infrastructure without which civilization can't function.
The EMP pulse triggers multinational military and civil operations ranging from rescue to combat, while in the meantime New York's five boros are turned into a savage battleground in a concrete jungle where survival of the fittest has suddenly become the only law.

To some city denizens, though, the blackout comes as a blessing in disguise, making it possible to stage and execute the heist of the century under cover of darkness ... The Blackout Heist.