Dead Zero
Who killed Whiskey 2-2? And why won't it stay dead?
A marine sniper team on a mission in tribal territories on the
Afghan-Pakistan border, Whiskey 2-2 is ambushed by professionals using
the latest high-tech shooting gear. Badly wounded, the team's sole
survivor, Gunnery Sergeant Ray Cruz, aka "the Cruise Missile," is
determined to finish his job. He almost succeeds when a mystery blast
terminates his enterprise, leaving a thirty-foot crater where a building
used to be -- and where Sergeant Cruz was meant to be hiding.
Months pass. Ray's target, an Afghan warlord named Ibrahim Zarzi,
sometimes called "The Beheader," becomes an American asset in the region
and beyond, beloved by State, the Administration, and the Agency. He
arrives in Washington for consecration as Our Man in Kabul. But so does
a mysterious radio transmission, in last year's code. It's from Whiskey
2-2.
MISSION WILL BE COMPLETED.
CONFIDENCE IS HIGH.
Is Ray Cruz back? Has he gone rogue, is he insane, or just insanely
angry? Will he succeed, though his antagonists now include the CIA, the
FBI, and the same crew of bad boys that nearly killed him in Zabol
province? Not to mention Bob Lee Swagger and a beautiful CIA agent named
Susan Okada who gives Swagger more than just a patriotic reason to take
the case.
Swagger, the legendary hero of seven of Hunter's novels from Point of
Impact to I, Sniper, is recruited by the FBI to stop the Cruise
Missile from reaching his target. The problem is that the more Swagger
learns about what happened in Zabol, the more he questions the U.S.
government's support of Zarzi and the more he identifies with Cruz as
hunter instead of prey.
With its hallmark accuracy on modern killing technologies, Dead Zero
features an older, more contemplative Swagger, but never lets up on the
razor-sharp dialogue, vivid characterizations, extraordinary action
scenes, and dazzling prose that define Hunter's landmark series. And
with this installment, the stunning revelations -- both political and
private--will leave listeners begging for more long after the last
bullet finds its way home.
Soft Target
Ten thousand people jam the aisles, the corridors, the elevators, and
the escalators of America, the Mall--a giant Rubik's Cube of a structure
with its own amusement park located in the spacious center atrium. Of
those people, nine thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight have come to
shop.
The other twelve have come to kill.
Ray Cruz, one of the heroes of Hunter's bestseller, Dead Zero, is in
the mall with his fiancee and her family. The retired Marine sniper
thought he was done with stalking and killing--but among the trapped
thousands, he's the only one with a plan and the guts to confront the
self-proclaimed "Brigade Mumbai." Now all he needs is a gun.
FBI Sniper Dave McElroy has a gun. But positioned on the roof of the
vast building and without explosives or fuses--or the go-ahead from his
superiors--he is cut off from his targets and forced into the role of
witness to the horror unfolding below.
Having learned the lessons of Columbine, the feds believe that immediate
action is the only solution. But Douglas Obobo, the charismatic and
ambitious commandant of the state police, orders cooperation, tolerance,
communication, and empathy for the gunmen. He feels that with his
superior negotiating skills, he can make contact with the shooters and
gently nudge them into surrender. But what if their goal all along has
been unparalleled massacre--and they're only waiting for prime time?
