Barry Lando: Deep Strike

“Yours too,” said Steve. All he wanted to know was about Maya and the children, but the general had other concerns. “The situation in your country remains very messy,” said Borovik. “Frankly, we are very nervous about it. It would be nice if some solution could be found to deal with Stokes. In our country, we had a stroke of luck. It has not yet been made public, but Kozlov decided to take his own life. It would be nice if a neat ending like that would happen to Stokes.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Steve. “That would make him something of a martyr. The conspiracy theories would go on and on.”

“That will happen no matter how Stokes leaves,” said Borovik. “Kozlov will also be seen as a martyr, but…”

“General, please,” Steve interrupted. “I have to know, how is Maya?”

“She is fine.”

“Where is she?”

“Right here,” the general, panned his iPhone to three chairs across from him where Maya was sitting with her two children. She was white-faced. There were dark circles under her eyes.

“Hello Steve,” she attempted a wan smile.

“Are you OK? What did they do to you?”

Her voice was shaking. “It was horrible. I can’t talk about it now. Not in front of the kids.” She buried her face in her hands.

Sonya put her arms around her mother. Thousands of miles away, Steve looked on helplessly.

“Hi, kids!” he said, his throat tight. Sonya looked towards him and smiled timidly. Evgeny raised his hand as if to wave.

“When are you coming to see us again?” asked the boy.

“Yes, when are you coming?” said Maya, wiping her eyes. “Your son is waiting. So are we all.”

“I’ll be on the next flight to Moscow,” Steve said. Had she already told her son that Steve was his father? This was not the time to ask.

Russia, he knew, wouldn’t be their home. And America? There were a lot of other countries out there. Who knew where they would wind up? But they would be together as a family.

Steve felt his eyes welling. He couldn’t believe it: When had he last cried?

Meanwhile, on the TV, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer continued to monitor what looked like a growing crisis, as he debriefed Pentagon correspondent Josh Bonin. “Wolf, our sources here tell us that a major dispute has broken out within the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other key military leaders. It’s apparently between those insisting the military should continue to prod civilian leaders, but remain behind the scenes. Others, however, are now arguing that in the face of the mounting civilian unrest, the military has no choice but to openly take power – at least until the situation has cleared – for one or two years and perhaps more.”

“In other words, Josh, it’s not at all clear what we’re heading into.”

“You could certainly say that, Wolf. Absolutely.”

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed reading Deep Strike as much as I enjoyed writing it. Support from readers like yourself is crucial for any author to succeed, particularly in this E-book era.

If you enjoyed this book, please consider writing a review at amazon.com and if you are inclined, follow me on twitter at @barrylandoor @PresStokesto continue the fun.

Also, if you think the book is worth the read, please like the Deep Strike Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/barrylando1/

The reviews are important and your support is greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Barry Lando

After working as a correspondent for Time-Life in South America, Barry Lando spent twenty-five years as an award-winning investigative producer with CBS’s 60 Minutes .

The author of numerous articles on international affairs, he produced a documentary about Saddam Hussein that has been shown around the world.

He has also written a nonfiction book on Iraq, Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush. That was followed by his first novel, The Watchman’s File , about the attempts of an American investigative reporter to uncover Israel’s most closely-guarded secret. (It is not the bomb.)

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Lando is a graduate of both Harvard and Columbia University. He is married, has three children, and currently lives in London, England.

You can follow his writing and other projects at: http://barrymlando.com

I owe a huge debt to the many people who read the manuscript in all or in part: Neil Bulstrode, Charles De Groot, Liza Fleissig, Marilyn Harris, Jeffery Hertzfeld, Adam Horowitz, Dana Isaacson, Lloyd Jassin, Dominique Lando, Edward Lando, Elisabeth Lando, Jeffery Lando, Chris Roberts, Timothy and Marie Louise Ryback, Victoria Skurnick, Judy Sternlight, Dave Turecamo, and Johnson Wu.

Their advice, perception, and enthusiasm were invaluable.

I am particularly grateful to the time and insights provided by my publisher, Michael Fabiano.

“With his latest novel, Deep Strike , former CBS 60 Minutes producer Barry Lando once again demonstrates his mastery of intrigue and spy-craft. What’s more – Lando’s electric story of a nation at risk, crackles off the page with the energy and currency of the morning headlines. His fiction clearly demonstrates the very real challenges to Western democracy and the very fragile nature of the thread by which it hangs.

— Jim Bittermann CNN Senior Correspondent Paris

“I couldn’t put it down. Barry Lando has transformed today’s startling headlines into a thrilling fictional read. Loved it!”

— Ali Velshi Anchor MSNBC

“ Deep Strike is a sinister, suspense-filled tale of sex and love, violence and vengeance, which nonetheless manages to be optimistic. Anyone who was appalled by Donald Trump’s election should read this novel.”

— Lara Marlowe The Irish Times

“Deep Strike pulls the reader into a world of audacious conspiracies, vivid personalities, egregious venality, and gripping intrigue….”

— Lee W. Huebner Airlie Professor of Media and Public Affairs, The George Washington University

“Barry Lando’s assassins, informants, and CIA agents inhabit a dark landscape. This is a story etched in the brutality of their world – and our’s. Don’t miss it.”

— Dave Turecamo Producer, CBS News Sunday Morning

“The White House, Russia, CIA, Twitter, Secret Bank Accounts. If you thought fiction could not compete with political reality – think again.”

— Timothy Ryback Journalist, Historian, Author – Hitler’s First Victims

“A thrilling read, with an all too plausible, ripped-from-the-headlines plot… a compelling imagining of what we might be facing. I was riveted.”

— Dan Attias Director, award-winning television series

“The unfulfilled fantasy of anybody who views the current U.S. administration with astonishment and dismay… sketching out just how the leaders of Russia and the U.S. might be financially linked – perfectly plausible and may well turn out to be prescient. The deep state the current administration so fears and reviles may indeed turn out to be its undoing, as Deep Strike depicts. If only…”

— M. A. Harris Former director of corporate communications, Time Warner Inc. Читать дальше