DEAD MAN’S HAND
OVERVIEW
In Dead Man’s Hand, Pike Logan goes head-to-head with Putin’s henchman in this propulsive and topical edge-of-your-seat thriller from New York Times bestselling author and former special forces officer Brad Taylor.
To finally end the war between their nations, a rogue Ukranian band of partisans known as the Wolves teams up with members of Russia’s military intelligence to assassinate Vladimir Putin.
But Putin is aware of the traitors in his midst and assigns the loyal commander of the Russian national guard to root them out. It’s a mission Victor Petrov is expected to undertake after he prevents Sweden from joining NATO-by assassinating a deputy minister of foreign affairs.
After receiving intelligence about the threat in Sweden, the U.S. sends Pike Logan to identify Victor’s target-only for him to get caught in the crossfire between Putin’s agents and the Wolves. When the smoke clears, Pike makes no effort to stop the Wolves on their ultimate mission, believing it just, until he discovers that their operation has unimaginable consequences.
For Putin is preparing a devastating endgame: activating the Dead Man’s Hand nuclear response that will launch Russia’s missiles in the event of his death. . .
EXCERPT
LAURINBURG AIRFIELD, NORTH CAROLINA
The smell always gets to me. It doesn’t matter if I’m boarding a commercial airliner or walking up the ramp of a military aircraft: when I smell the exhaust from the jet fuel, my adrenaline rises because my body equates that odor with leaving an aircraft in flight. Like Pavlov’s dogs, I start “salivating” underneath my arms, my body instinctively thinking about leaping from an aircraft with nothing but a piece of nylon to stop the effects of gravity.
In this case, I was, in fact, leaving an aircraft while in flight, so it fit. I stood with my arms out, letting Knuckles check my para- chute harness, my eyes on Jennifer across the way, like we were two convicts being searched before being let into the penitentiary.
