Ryan Kealey

At 33, Ryan Kealey has achieved more in his military and CIA career than most men can dream of in a lifetime. He's also seen the worst life has to offer and is lucky to have survived it. But being left alone with his demons is no longer an option. The CIA needs him badly, because the enemy they're facing is former U.S. soldier Jason March. Ryan knows all about March - he trained him.

When a top Iranian source reveals that Iran is planning to bomb the United Nations, U.S. Intelligence begins counter-measures. Only Kealey sees it as a smokescreen for another, far more involved plot. But getting anyone to believe him isn't going to be easy. With only his ally, London's newest assistant chief, Naomi Kharmai, by his side, Ryan will have to operate outside the lines in order to prevent a terrible attack in a city on lockdown.

Tensions between Pakistan and India are at an all-time high. To complicate matters, 12 American climbers have disappeared in the snow-capped peaks of Pakistan's Hindu Kush range. The president is demanding answers, but neither government is supplying them. In the wake of an unprecedented attack, Ryan Kealey's operation goes into high gear.

For the President of the United States, the daily horror of life in West Darfur, Sudan’s anarchic killing fields, just hit heartbreakingly close to home. His beloved niece Lily, a nurse caring for refugees in the war-torn region, has been targeted and savagely murdered by a corps of Janjaweed, fearsome government-backed militiamen. The rash and vicious killing is a clear provocation, but any response will seriously destabilize the already teetering region and threaten the security of the entire world.

Finally settling into a peaceful life after more than a decade on the deadly frontlines of the war on terror, Ryan Kealey believes he’s put danger behind him - and some of his demons to rest. But his calm is shattered when he’s swept into a highly organized and merciless terror attack during a charity gala in downtown Baltimore. Dozens are dead and critically injured, including the wife of CIA Deputy Director John Harper, whose investigation of the ambush is hampered by suspicion.

Ryan Kealey now knows he'll never really put the game behind him. But now the game itself has changed. Between tense interagency "cooperation" that gums the works and an overreliance on data-crunching and wiz-kid tech, today's US intelligence service has lost a step to its ever-bolder, viciously adaptable global enemies. And thanks to an incredible discovery in the Arctic, those enemies now have a nuke - capable of unleashing unthinkable terror.

Ryan Kealey has no doubt that the forces seeking to tip this teetering world into chaos are just getting better. Better equipped, better organized, and, most terrifying of all, more patient. And despite all the ELINT, the all-seeing electronic intelligence gathered at Langley, nothing stops a devastating attack from ripping through the heart of San Antonio, Texas.