Wednesday, November 30, 2005

New Book Excerpt - Spy Thriller

Based on my own comments from my previous post about Porter Goss' comments about finding Bin Laden, I was inspired. The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming novel:

"Everywhere To Hide: Volume One of the Goss CIA Dossier Series"

It's been a while since I've read a Clancy novel, but I'm trying my best to capture that overwrought Spy Thriller feel. Enjoy.
Chapter One: Active engagement

Stone Anderson tossed the paperweight from hand to hand, and he reflected on the feel of the cool, polished surface against his skin. He was the sort of man who couldn't be bothered to sit still, especially to wait in the anteroom of the CIA Director's office.

Suddenly, Angeline walked through the door from the director's office, carrying a stack of redacted documents.

"Director Goss is ready for you, now, Stone." She said with a demure smile, her serious but attractive lips curling up at the corners into girlish dimples.

"Thanks, Angel. Did he have his lunch already, or should I expect to get chewed out in there?" He replied.

Angeline snickered, "I don't know, Stone...the mood in there is pretty dark. I hope you didn't wear your Eau de Steak and potatoes."

"Heh. Wish me luck, kiddo." He said.

He walked into the dimly lit room to see Director Goss and Assistant Director Stonecipher staring intently at the computer screen. Goss looked up at him as he entered.

"Stone. You're right on time." Goss said, "I'll get right down to brass tacks."

Anderson could tell immediately the situation was grim. If Goss skipped the usual chit-chat or commendations from the President, it always meant a clock somewhere was ticking fast.

"We need you to get to Pakistan, Anderson," Director Goss said, "Our agents in Pakistan need your help finding Bin Laden."

Stone's eyebrow peaked, and he asked, "Why? What's the problem?"

Goss pulled his glasses off and massaged his nose. "Because, Stone, the sonofagun is," he sighed,"hiding."

"Hiding?" Anderson exclaimed, his eyes pulled wide, "That nefarious, cowardly bastard."

Director Goss put his glasses back on. "Yes, Stone. He's hiding. We had two of our best deep operatives from Kabul on his trail for the last three months." A deep operative was the term the CIA used for a first generation American citizen of foreign ancestry who was trained as a Level 6 operative at Langley, and assigned back into their ancestral homeland. In areas like the Middle East, they were invaluable assets, in ways that even the most darkly-complected, Christian God-fearing American could never be.

"They tracked him to a small village, about 50 miles from Bannu." Director Goss continued,"They actually had him cornered and were prepared to take action to apprehend him, but Bin Laden used his hands to cover his own eyes--"

"And they couldn't see him." Stone finished, "That evil Islamofascist may be a maniac, but he's a maniac genius."

Director Goss turned the computer monitor towards Anderson. It showed a map of the Afghani-Pakistani border. Stone stared intently at the map for a few seconds, his muscular jaw tensing and relaxing in deep contemplation.

"Did you try Googling for him?" Stone asked.

"Yes. And we even checked the Yahoo People Finder." Director Goss replied, his voice sounding resolute, but weary, "We found a few leads, but they all turned out to be dead ends."

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