Don Bentlley recently acted as guest host at The Poisoned Pen, hosting David McCloskey, Jack Stewart and M.P. Woodward. McCloskey’s book is The Persian. Jack Stewart’s thriller is Declared Hostile. M.P. Woodward’s latest books are Tom Clancy: Terminal Velocity and Red Tide. There are signed books available through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here are the summaries of the authors’ books.
Kamran Esfahani, a dentist living out a dreary existence in Stockholm, agrees to spy for the Mossad after he’s recruited by Arik Glitzman, the chief of a clandestine unit tasked with running targeted assassinations and sabotage inside Iran. At Glitzman’s direction, Kam returns to his native Tehran and opens a dental practice there, using it as a cover for the Israeli intelligence agency. Kam proves to be a skillful asset, quietly earning money helping Glitzman smuggle weapons, run surveillance, and conduct kidnappings. But when Kam tries to recruit an Iranian widow seeking to avenge the death of her husband at the hands of the Mossad, the operation goes terribly wrong, landing him in prison under the watchful eye of a sadistic officer whom he knows only as the “General.”
And now, after enduring three years of torture in captivity, Kamran Esfahani sits in an interrogation room across from the General, preparing to write his final confession.
Kam knows it is too late to save himself. But he has managed to keep one secret—only one—and he just might be able to save that. In this haunting thriller, careening between Tehran and Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Stockholm, David McCloskey delivers an intricate story of vengeance, deceit, and the power of love and forgiveness in a world of lies.
David McCloskey is the author of the novels Damascus Station, Moscow X, and The Seventh Floor, and is cohost of the podcast The Rest Is Classified. A former CIA analyst, he worked at Langley and in field stations across the Middle East. He lives in Texas.
A treasonous plot. Clandestine actors. World order hanging in the balance.
Elite NCIS investigator Emmy “Punky” King, seasoned in global espionage, uncovers the edges of an intricate international conspiracy following the arrest of a U.S. Marine. Relying solely on her sharp intuition, she starts peeling back layers of a complex mystery that links the U.S. president to a clandestine corporation. As she navigates the corruption, Punky finds herself deep in an escalating game that threatens more than just national security.
Halfway across the world in Eastern Europe, Colt Bancroft and the Black Ponies are thrust into a high-stakes mission to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of rogue Russian operatives. But when their operation spirals into chaos following an ambush by an unexpected adversary, Colt finds himself navigating the deadly terrain of enemy territory, fighting for survival.
Although separated by continents, their missions are fatally intertwined. Colt must battle against overwhelming odds while Punky races against time to uncover the traitor behind it all—both unaware that if either fails, the world will plunge into chaos.
From Jack Stewart, former US Navy Top Gun instructor pilot, comes Declared Hostile, the intense fourth installment in the acclaimed Battle Born series. This riveting narrative is a must-read for fans of Tom Clancy and Dale Brown, packing high-stakes action and intricate conspiracy into every chapter.
Jack Stewart grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy before serving twenty-three years as a fighter pilot. During that time, he flew combat missions from three different aircraft carriers and deployed to Afghanistan as a member of an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party. His last deployment was with a joint special operations counter-terrorism task force in Africa.Jack is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and holds a Master of Science in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego. He is an airline pilot and has appeared as a military and commercial aviation expert on international cable news. He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife and three children.
Jack Ryan Jr battles terrorists in the disputed mountains of Kashmir to save a comrade in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
A string of savage murders in the United States seems unrelated until the FBI makes a shocking discovery: a decade ago, all of the murder victims were involved in a raid to eliminate the Umayyad Revolutionary Council, a vicious terror group that—were it not for John Clark and the Campus—would have perpetrated the most devastating attack against critical American infrastructure in history. Now it appears they’re back, with a next-generation leader hell-bent on revenge.
Mary Pat Foley, Director of National Intelligence, greenlights an op for the Campus to cut the head off the snake. Clark taps ex-Delta commando Bartosz “Midas” Jankowski to lead a kill team deep into the mountains to snuff out the charismatic terror leader. But when the hunters become the hunted, it’s up to Jack Rayan Jr. to avert disaster amid a deadly power game of nations vying for control of the disputed region.
On a rapid covert ingress from neighboring India, he’ll traverse the Himalayan wilderness with a rifle on his back and a tough Mujahadin fighter by his side. Jack knows time is growing short—he must save his team and lead them into position to be the first to hit terminal velocity.
“An adrenaline-laced naval thriller ripped straight from tomorrow’s headlines.” —Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Sky Mourning
From the New York Times bestselling author behind the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. books and former U.S. Naval Intelligence officer comes a gripping and timely military thriller.
America’s Navy is stretched to the breaking point. China’s combat fleet grows. And both countries compete for access to advanced semiconductor chips produced only in Taiwan. When the Chinese strike first, casualties mount and high-tech arsenals are exhausted. It’s a war of attrition—and the Chinese are winning.
Rear Adm. Will Cole outgoing operations officer (N3) of the Pacific Fleet is on the brink of retirement. After a thirty-year career, he’s ready to settle down, rebuild his marriage, and pass the torch to the next generation of the “Fighting Coles”: Their oldest, Henry, flies F-18s. Their middle son, Jamie, is a merchant marine officer. Their daughter, Lucy, has a high-tech job with a defense contractor.
But all plans are scrapped when war drums start beating. The Pacific Fleet commander sends Cole stateside to challenge a hardened political bureaucracy into getting serious about the threat to peace in the Pacific. Proven right when the missiles start flying, Cole is ordered to do the impossible: destroy the Chinese fleet and retake Taiwan—before it’s too late. He’ll risk everything in a final fleet amphibious action—his career, his Navy, and his family.
With the pacing of a master storyteller and a flair for riveting action sequences, M. P. Woodward captivates readers while raising important questions about the U.S. Navy’s ability to remain the world’s guarantor of a free sea in the twenty-first century.
From the halls of Washington to the mountains of Taiwan to the waters of the South Pacific, Red Tide is the story of America at war, as depicted through the eyes of one courageous naval family.
M. P. Woodward?is the New York Times best-selling author of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. series and The Handler CIA espionage series (The Handler and?Dead Drop).??He served as a U.S. naval intelligence officer before going on to an international career in tech and streaming media.? He lives in Redmond, Washington.
Enjoy the conversation with the thriller authors.