In Interlaken, Switzerland, a Russian double agent working for the CIA is intercepted and killed. In Paris, another double agent is killed. A thwarted assassination attempt is made on the CIA director, Jack Barrett, by an internal operative. Barrett orders a thorough vetting of all CIA personnel to identify moles who are compromising his double agents. They find a mind-control computer program that influences people to unconsciously carry out instructions, which explained the assassination attempt. In retaliation, the U.S. uses an energy weapon to take out a vital Russian missile detection and control radar station, and informs Russia that further attacks will follow if killing of their agents doesn’t stop. Barrett assigns Dave McClure and another agent to extract Dr. Armand Mishenkov from Russia. Safely in the U.S., the doctor would continue his vital work on cold fusion power. With a Spetsnaz team after him, Mishenkov escapes to Ukraine, but safety and freedom are still far from his reach. Will McClure succeed to bring the doctor to America? That is where the real journey begins.
In the Black is a fast-paced, action-packed adventure that gives readers little time to pause, lest they miss something. Andrew Ceroni’s descriptions of CIA procedures and various European locations add credible background settings for the story. The plot is fairly straightforward and Ceroni does not give readers much in the way of characterization, relying on action to carry the book. For this genre type, readers who are interested in what happens rather than why, will not be bothered by this deficiency. Where necessary, Ceroni provides vivid visualization of action sequences and locale descriptions, which will make readers feel they are actually there, experiencing directly what is going on. This is particularly well done in the long episode where Dave McClure and his partner attempt to rescue Dr. Mishenkov. In the Black is not an intellectual novel, but it nevertheless manages to be entertaining.
This book is available on Amazon.
About the Author
Award-winning author Andrew Ceroni served a distinguished career as a Senior Supervisory Special Agent focused in Title 18 U.S.C. Chapter 37 espionage investigations as well as counterespionage and antiterrorism operations throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim. Ceroni grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he attended public schools. He received a congressional nomination to the U.S. Air Force Academy, graduating with a B.S. degree, and received his M.A. degree from Case Western Reserve University. Ceroni also completed studies in the German and French languages at the University of Maryland. He is a graduate of numerous intelligence and law enforcement training forums. An author of four award-winning novels, he published poetry in several magazines. He is a member of the Authors Guild and lives in Colorado with his family.
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