Shock Wave, page 1
Praise for AL PESSIN and his Task Force Epsilon thrillers
Shock Wave
“Intense, unique, and frighteningly real. A standout!”
—Marc Cameron, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy “Jack Ryan” novels
“In Shock Wave, war correspondent Al Pessin brings back Faraz Abdallah—a hero in the war on terror for our generation—in the explosive third book in the Task Force Epsilon Series. His novel Blowback is a tough act to follow, but Pessin does so, bringing us on an intense, non-stop ride with characters, action, and geopolitical intrigue written with authenticity and emotion possible only from someone who has been there and seen it firsthand. Pessin proves himself to be a master storyteller in this authentic, heart stopping thriller that is sure to be one of the best reads of the year.
Don’t miss this one!”
—Andrews and Wilson, international bestselling author team
“Al Pessin is the perfect blend of Daniel Silva and Lee Child.”
—Dave Zeltserman, Shamus and Derringer Award-winning author
“Action, intrigue, and adventure—all wrapped up in extraordinary characters and a gripping story. Pessin has it all!”
—JD Allen, award-winning author of the Sin City Investigation Series
“Al Pessin mixes a potent cocktail of political intrigue with high-octane action, and serves up a timely thriller that brings a pulse-pounding series to its satisfying conclusion.
—M.E. Browning, award-winning author of the Jo Wyatt and Mer Cavallo mysteries
“Explosive. The emotional impact hits like a hand grenade.”
—Avanti Centrae, international bestselling author of the VanOps thriller series
“Shock Wave is an exciting, authentic and realistic thriller. I have run into most of the characters in real life as a reporter. I’m left with a feeling that this horrendous scenario could have actually unfolded, and perhaps it still can.”
—Mark Lavie, Middle East correspondent, author of Why Are We Still Afraid?
“Strap yourself in! The relentless tension takes off early in this fast-paced story. Al Pessin treats his subjects and their struggles with a delicacy and veracity true to his journalistic roots. And he deftly maneuvers his diverse, constantly shifting cast of well-crafted characters across the blood-spattered, shrapnel-littered landscapes of the Middle East.
Shock Wave is military drama at its finest!”
—Carole Stivers, The Mother Code
“Shock Wave combines relentless action and nail-biting suspense with an up-close-and-personal look at the dedicated people and complicated forces behind today’s headlines. Al Pessin has done it again!”
—Bonnar Spring, Toward the Light
Blowback
“If your thing is adventure, political intrigue, suspense and action galore, then this is the thriller for you. Don’t wait. Check it out. Now.”
—Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of the Cotton Malone thrillers
“Don’t mess with the good guys. Reading Al Pessin’s Blowback is like saddling a rocket. Once it gets going, hang on for one helluva ride!”
—John Gilstrap, New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Jonathan Grave thriller series
“Blowback is a realistic—and top-notch—boots-on- the-ground military thriller featuring the secret counterterrorism unit Task Force Epsilon. Author Al Pessin gives readers a front row seat as uber-resilient unit leader Bridget Davenport directs U.S. Army Lt. Faraz Abdallah on a harrowing undercover mission to the Syrian terrorist camps in pursuit of the elusive mastermind al-Souri. The pages will fly by as you draw closer to the heart-thumping, action-packed climax. Pessin really knows his stuff and Blowback proves it!”
—Alan Orloff, Thriller and Derringer Awards-winning author of I Know Where You Sleep
“Blowback is a timely military thriller that pulls no punches. Al Pessin brings the war on terror to life as few authors can. Highly recommended for fans of Alex Berenson and Brad Thor.”
—Ward Larsen, USA Today bestselling author of Assassin’s Strike
“The blistering and bracing Blowback is a thinking man’s (or woman’s!) action thriller, a scarily prescient take on current events that foretells the headlines instead of exploiting them. Al Pessin’s second entry in the Task Force Epsilon series conjures comparisons to James Rollins’s seminal Sigma Force in all the right ways, while staking out his own turf in a crowded landscape. A riveting and relentless read.”
—Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author
“Original, action-packed, gripping and timely—Blowback kept me up all night. Al Pessin knows Washington and the war on terror. And Hollywood, take note, Al Pessin is the new Tom Clancy.”
—Tony Park, international bestselling author
“The literary world is so cluttered with action thrillers that it’s difficult to stand out in the crowd. But Al Pessin deftly manages to do just that in the brilliant Blowback. A former foreign correspondent, Pessin makes splendid use of that experience in crafting a thriller that’s a smooth and sultry mix of Brad Taylor and James Rollins. Solid in all respects as he lays claim to his own place in the genre.”
—The Providence Journal
Sandblast
TOP-FIVE SELECTION, UNPUBLISHED BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2018 ROYAL PALM LITERARY AWARDS; SHORT-LIST SELECTION, 2017 BOSQUE FICTION PRIZE
“Al Pessin escorts you through thrills and chaos, writing with the sure hand of authority. This guy knows his stuff.”
—Richard Castle, New York Times bestselling author of the Nikki Heat thrillers
“In Sandblast, Al Pessin has crafted a taut action-thriller that really pulls you in. You’ll feel like you’re right beside the main character, on an increasingly perilous journey filled with impossible choices that threaten to change him at his very core. The plot is highly original, and I felt like I was there. It’s a great book.”
—Henry V. O’Neil, author of the Sim War Series
“Sandblast is the definition of a terrific military thriller—straightforward, precise and devastating. This timely, realistic story—with its authentic and knowing voice and courageous main characters—propels readers to the peak of white-knuckled brinksmanship and will be awarded top marks by fans of Alex Berensen and Vince Flynn.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, Mary Higgins Clark, Anthony, and five-time Agatha Award winner
“Sandblast is tense, believable and relevant.
Pessin calls on his years in the Pentagon and White House press corps for the keen details that bring this tale to life. There’s a high emotional content here, too, as we follow the almost impossible quest of a likable and massively outgunned hero.”
—T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Good Guy
“So exciting and so terrifyingly realistic, you won’t be able to put it down. If you like complex international thrillers, keep Al Pessin on your short list of must-read authors.”
—D. J. Niko, international bestselling author of the Sarah Weston Chronicles
“Sandblast is an aptly titled nail-biter of a thriller that opens at a pulse-rattling pace and only ratchets upwards from there. Al Pessin not only knows how to tell a story, but his journalistic background imbues this tale of an Afghan-American army officer infiltrating a terrorist organization with compelling authority.”
—Les Standiford, author of Water to the Angels and many other books, director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University
“Al Pessin brings a lifetime of frontline experience to a novel that could have been taken from today’s headlines. Utterly compelling and a cautionary tale for our times.”
—Retired Admiral James Stavridis, author, former dean of the
Fletcher School at Tufts University, former commander of NATO forces and media commentator
“Sandblast vividly depicts a close-to-real scene, which makes the story more entertaining, real and educating.”
—Ali Ahmad Jalali, author, former interior minister of Afghanistan and Afghan presidential candidate, distinguished professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
“The author writes with incredible authenticity . . . exceptionally well plotted . . . complex and consistent . . . each chapter adds a new hook . . . the story will appeal to a broad range of readers. We met the people, felt their anxiety, sweated with them in their decision process. This is a deeper story than it appears . . . the inner turmoil of the protagonists propels the story. The reader is pulled along, seeing lives lived, lost, and changed. Faraz is a heroic character of sequel deserving merit.”
—Statement of the judges, the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards
Books by AL PESSIN
Sandblast
Blowback
Shock Wave
SHOCK WAVE
A TASK FORCE EPSILDN THRILLER
AL PESSIN
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Praise
Also by
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
PART TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
PART THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Teaser chapter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2022 Al Pessin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
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ISBN: 978-0-7860-4675-1
Electronic edition:
ISBN: 978-0-7860-4676-8 (e-book)
For Ezra
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
The lone passenger felt every whitecap as the small boat crept toward the desert shore. He thought he might be sick, but he was determined not to show any weakness.
He looked out the porthole. The moonless night revealed nothing.
The man was sweating in the stagnant, hot air of the small forward cabin. The old, rusting bench with thin, plastic-covered cushions provided none of the creature comforts to which his unique capabilities had entitled him these many years.
The cabin brought to mind the tiny Beirut apartment where he’d grown up, where he’d learned of his father’s murder, where his mother had died for lack of medical care. He had worked hard to forget that apartment through the decades of plush furnishings and air conditioning. He shook off the memory.
A swell hit the boat and nearly knocked him from his seat. He put a hand on the bench to steady himself and let another wave of nausea pass.
How had he come to this—on this scow, hat in hand, virtually on his knees begging for the seeds to regrow his operation? Begging for his life.
Not long ago, this all would have been done with a phone call and an electronic transfer. Now, calls were more dangerous than ever. Moving money was, too. Damn them.
His anger and shame fueled a new determination to succeed, to impress his masters, to get back to the air conditioning.
If they let him live.
A member of the crew opened the cabin door. “Two minutes, sayyid.” He spoke in Arabic and retreated without waiting for an answer.
Still clinging to the bench, Saddiq Mohammed Assali thanked God that he had survived the voyage. “Allah hu akbar,” he whispered. God is great. But his tone was more sarcastic than reverent. Surviving this far was a victory, but perhaps a fleeting one.
Assali stood, something a taller man would not have been able to do in the low-ceilinged cabin. His ample belly made it hard to balance in the rolling sea and strained the fabric of his sweat-stained traditional Arab qamis, an untucked long-sleeved white shirt that reached not quite to his knees and was buttoned all the way to his neck.
He wiped his three-day stubble. He ran a hand through his combover. It came out greasy. Disgraceful. But such was life on the run. He had only his small travel case, half a bottle of water and an empty plastic bag that once held German pretzels. He wished he hadn’t eaten them.
Assali put on the suit jacket he’d bought not long ago at the priciest men’s tailor shop in Amman. He picked up the carry-on, put the water bottle in a side pocket and stepped to the cabin door, crushing discarded candy wrappers and cigarette butts as he went. For the first time he could remember, he had smoked his last. Perhaps, if this is the end, they’ll at least give him one before the execution.
He mounted two of the three steps to the deck. His face caught the breeze, which blew away some of the staleness and refreshed him.
They called this the Red Sea, but all he could see was black. The small cabin cruiser was painted black. The three-man crew wore black. And they had turned off the lights. Looking toward the rear of the boat, he could hardly see anything.
They had engaged the electric motor and so were running almost silently. They were invisible and inaudible. At least that was the theory. Who knew what technology the enemy might have?
Assali mounted the final step onto the deck and turned to look around. His fist closed on a rail and he peered into the darkness. In the distance to his left, there was a glow in the sky—the lights of Eilat and Aqaba, he reasoned. Otherwise, there was darkness in all directions. Staring ahead and not blinking, he forced his pupils to dilate. The shoreline appeared, dark gray against the blackness, maybe a kilometer away.
“How can you be sure this is the place?” he asked.
“From the satellite, sayyid,” the captain assured him. The man’s face was barely visible in the dimmed lights of the instrument panel.
Assali looked toward the shore again and shrugged. He could only hope these men knew what they were doing.
The next wave tossed the boat and splashed over the rail.
Assali turned away but tasted the salt as water hit the deck. He had two hands on the rail now and was more concerned about going overboard than about vomiting. This had to be the longest kilometer in the world.
Finally cresting the last wave, the boat surfed down to the shore and ran aground.
