Richard Herman – författare

America is caught in the lethal center of an unwinnable two-front war -- in this gripping and explosive thriller from the master of geopolitical intrigue . . .

The war on terrorism has borne bitter fruit, as the radical Islamic states forge an unholy alliance with a surging China, aiming for total control of the Middle East''s vast oil reserves and the strategic Strait of Malacca. As a new axis of world power simultaneously launches a devastating double-pronged conflict -- one a depleted American military cannot possibly win -- President Maddy Turner, the first woman ever to occupy the Oval Office, must react swiftly to a global crisis of world-altering proportions. And so she turns to the only man she can trust in the brutal snake pit of Beltway politics: Brigadier General Matt Pontowski. A brilliant flyer and military tactician, and the intimate confidant of the most powerful woman on Earth, he must now undertake a mission at once bold and extraordinary -- and potentially suicidal -- as a desperate nation confronts Armageddon, and its leader approaches what will be either her finest hour . . . or her most tragic mistake.

Madeline Turner, the first female U.S. President, has already weathered global crises during the first months of her administration. But the balance of power has suddenly shifted dangerously and dramatically in Europe—the Russian government has fallen into the hands of a criminal—and a fearsome, re-emergent bear is on a rampage. Locked into a war of wits and weaponry with the deadly cabal of drug runners and murderers who now rule a one-time empire, Maddy Turner will need capable allies beside her—like Air Force legend Matt Pontowski, who will become the beleaguered Commander-in-Chief''s confidant, friend, and more. An explosive confrontation is coming that could reshape the face of the world—and the fate of President Turner herself.

A shrewd, efficient and popular politician, Madeline O''Keith Turner was eminently qualified to fulfill he duties as America''s first woman Vice President. But Fate elevated her to Commander-in-Chief. . .on the eve of her nation''s most devastating modern crisis.

From her first day in the Oval Office, Maddie Turner has had to deal with bitter challenges from Congress and duplicity from within the ranks of the Cabinet she inherited from her late predecessor. Now catastrophe is brewing in the East China Sea. Chinese and Japanese fleets are set to collide in the biggest naval engagement since World War Two. And a single false step could result in Turner''s impeachment. . .or, worse still, in nuclear war. An untried leader with enemies on all sides must now reach out to her one true ally: National Security Advisor General Robert Bender, a loyal soldier determined to teach his president in record time everything he knows about swift, decisive action and bare-knuckling battling. . .even if it costs his career, and his life, to do so.

There is a new order to the world. The first female president of the United States sits in the White House. Monster corporations wield the real global power. And all the old rules have changed.

From Richard Herman, whom Clive Cussler calls "one of the best adventure writers around" and the Denver Post places "on a par with Tom Clancy," comes a spellbinding new novel of intrigue, politics, deception, murder, and the bloody manipulation of world events for the sake of pure profit.

Beautiful and brilliant, Lee Justine (L.J.) Ellis is, at thirty-eight, the youngest CEO ever of a major oil corporation. Ruthless, charismatic, greedy, and philanthropic, she is a strange dichotomy of positive and negative, a driven crusader on a god-given mission. And now she owns something worth killing for: secret knowledge of vast, untapped reserves of oil right in America''s backyard ... beneath the territorial waters of a sworn enemy ... Cuba. It is a prize she must capture at any cost.

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Stuart is the most average of men. A military functionary toiling in bureaucratic tedium, he could never hope to live up to the legendary reputation of his father -- one of the great air force fighter pilots -- so he is resigned to serving his country in his own quiet way. But in his daily war of figures and on-screen data, Stuart notices an unusual pattern of oil tanker movement and he dutifully reports it to his superiors. Suddenly Mike Stuart''s ordinary life starts spinning dangerously out of control.

A series of seemingly random "accidents" and narrow escapes -- all explainable and unremarkable, except for the number of them -- puts him on the alert. But when his ex-wife and her lover are killed in Stuart''s car, he realizes that his growing paranoia is frighteningly justified. There are powerful forces closing in on one inconspicuous man, trapping him in the wide flung net of a devastating conspiracy that could brutally change the political face of a hemisphere, bring a government down in flames and chaos ... and take the life of America''s''s president.

Now Mike Stuart is being called upon to defend his nation in ways he never imagined. And his sole chance for success -- and survivals to become something he has never been: a warrior.

When fear becomes a weapon...When a few good men go bad...America will be consumed by the fire that burns within.