When
The Reaper Comes
by
John L. DeBoer
Genre:
Thriller,Suspense, Action
As
the NSA gets a strong lead on one of the most prominent faces of
ISIS, the Islamic State embarks on a bold course of action—an
attack on American soil.
Former
Navy SEAL Adam Taylor, on a break between assignments for a global
paramilitary security firm, is visiting his folks in his home town
when he gets a new mission—provide security for a rock star who is
in town for a St. Patrick's Day concert. Unknown to Adam, a team of
American ISIS soldiers will soon arrive with a plan to wreak havoc on
the Jersey Shore, and Adam will get caught up in a deadly game of
wits between the terrorist menace and those tasked to protect the
citizens of the homeland.
Len Briscoe loved
his job. The Customs Border Protection officer grew up watching cop
and PI shows on TV and had been fascinated by them. And when he
discovered he had the same name as a main character in the old Law
& Order series, he couldn’t have been more pleased. As a
Customs agent at Port of Entry, Detroit, his career encompassed both
law enforcement and, in a way, sleuthing. The best of both worlds,
job-wise.
Every morning,
he put on his uniform with pride and went to his station at the
Ambassador Bridge, the span over the Detroit River connecting
Windsor, Ontario to the Motor City, eager to fulfill his
responsibilities.
On that
morning, he had been on duty for an hour, when a dark blue Cobalt
arrived at his checkpoint. Briscoe looked through the open driver’s
side window at his next potential suspect.
“May I see
your identification, sir?” Briscoe asked the olive-skinned young
man. Mediterranean ancestry, he quickly assessed.
The man handed
him his Canadian driver’s license and passport.
“This is a
new passport, Mr. D’Agostino.”
“Yes, sir.”
“So is this
your first time visiting the United States?”
“When I was a
kid, I came here with my parents once. That was before the increased
border security, of course.”
“What is the
purpose of your visit?”
“I have a
date.” The young man smiled, showing a set of white teeth. “A
girl I met online. She came to Windsor for our first date, and now
it’s my turn.”
Briscoe
returned the smile. “Could be serious, huh?”
“You never
know.”
“But serious
enough to get a passport.”
“I always
meant to get one. Now I have a good reason.”
Briscoe nodded
as he perused the documents. “You still live at this address?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How long a
stay do you anticipate?”
“I’m hoping
for at least two days.” D’Agostino grinned. “You know.”
Briscoe stamped
the passport. As he handed it and the license back to the man, he
asked, “How do you think the Toronto Argonauts will do this year?”
D’Agostino
paused for a moment before responding. “No idea. I’m not into
hockey. Except for the Olympics.”
“Have a nice
stay, sir.” Briscoe raised the gate, and as the man drove off, he
wrote down the license number of the car and the Windsor address of
the driver before he forgot it, though his memory for such details
had always been excellent.
The man could
just be completely ignorant of Canadian professional sports, Briscoe
supposed. But a young Ontario man who didn’t know the Argonauts
played football, not hockey, struck him as quite unusual.
***
Yusuf Khouri sighed with relief when he drove through the open checkpoint gate. The Customs guy’s question had thrown him temporarily. But he thought he’d handled it well, though the only Argonauts he’d ever heard of were in that Greek mythology story. And here he was, after all, back in the United States again.
Yusuf Khouri sighed with relief when he drove through the open checkpoint gate. The Customs guy’s question had thrown him temporarily. But he thought he’d handled it well, though the only Argonauts he’d ever heard of were in that Greek mythology story. And here he was, after all, back in the United States again.
The female
voice of the GPS device told him of the next direction to take.
Khouri shook his head in disgust. He knew it was just an impersonal
recording. But so was the message that would chastise him when he
mis-dialed a number on his phone. And those Viagra ads, with women
telling men what they must do to have sex with them. American infidel
men not only let women boss them around, they seemed to like it. That
would certainly stop when the caliphate ruled the world.
He took the
turn that would lead him to Massoud’s gun shop, excited to play his
part in bringing the infidels down.
After
graduating from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, I did
my surgical residency in the U.S. Army at Madigan Army Medical
Center, Ft. Lewis, Washington. I then spent three years in the
Medical Corps as a General Surgeon before leaving the Army for
private practice. Thirty years later, I retired to begin a new career
as a writer. I enjoy cooking, tennis, politics, films and film
history, the wonders of the cosmos, and, of course, reading.
Thrillers is one of my favorite genres, so thrillers is what I like
to write. My wife and I (mainly Diane) raised two sons we're proud of
and who are pursuing careers having nothing to do with the medical
field! After living in Pennsylvania for a number of years, Diane and
I settled in North Carolina, where the winters are easy to take and
the only weather we get antsy about is the occasional hurricane.
Thanks for being a stop on my book tour!
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome John!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a super creepy thriller! Love it!
ReplyDeleteEmily, yes it does...especially the cover..
ReplyDelete