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SHADOW WAR

Sean McFate Bret Witter

On a secret mission to save a businessman’s family in Eastern Europe, an elite American mercenary navigates perilous setbacks and deadly enemies in this blistering hot series debut in the tradition of Brad Thor, Tom Clancy and Daniel Silva.
Tom Locke is an elite warrior working for Apollo Outcomes, one of the world’s most successful private contracting firms. Pulled out of a mission in Libya, he is tapped for an unusual and risky assignment: a top-secret black op in Ukraine. He is given one week to rescue an oligarch’s family and pull off a spectacular assault that could have long-lasting repercussions for this imperiled eastern nation and the world. What Locke doesn’t know is that the operation comes with a dangerous complication: Brad Winter. Locke’s ambitious and enigmatic boss is engaged in a secretive, high-stakes geopolitical chess game with several influential powerbrokers in capitals around the world. One misstep could cost him—and Locke—everything. While Locke has methodically planned the mission and hand-picked a team of trusted operatives to pull it off—and save his ass if things go south—he doesn’t count on running into a former love, war correspondent Alie MacFarlane, who impulsively makes a move that risks both their lives. Locke is an intelligent, iconoclastic soldier who specializes in pulling off the impossible. But all his brilliant preparation can’t prevent the kind of backstabbing and deception that could lead to catastrophe . . . and tip the balance of power toward Putin’s Russia. Sean McFate is a professor at the National Defense University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and an adjunct social scientist at the RAND Corporation. He served as a paratrooper in the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and was a manager for DynCorp International, where he ran military operations similar to the one in this book for more than ten yours. He is the author of The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order, and holds a BA from Brown University, a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He lives with his wife in Washington, DC. Bret Witter has co-authored eight New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 bestseller The Monuments Men. He lives with family in Decatur, Georgia.
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Published 2016-06-14 by William Morrow

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Editor David Craig interviews Sean McFate in a video for Defense Talks for Real Clear Defense. Read more...

Q&A with Sean McFate Read more...

An American James Bond meets the twists and turns of “Homeland".

This international thriller charges ahead at a breakneck pace that will keep the reader not only totally engaged in the story but also marveling at the insight that the authors bring to the adventure. The first of the Tom Locke series, Shadow War promises a wealth of insights into the modern warfare and espionage sectors that Sean McFate is intimately familiar with. Read more...

McFate knows the world of his first thriller intimately… The novel provides plenty of drama and a realistic view of political intrigue, and McFate really shines with lines that ring with authenticity. . . . A promising debut from an author who clearly knows the realities of the mercenary’s trade.

...I loved this book, even though I am not into anything war/military related. The writing is so crisp, clean, right there that I fell for the style and yes the substance. Sean McFate and Brett Witter you had me at Hello! Can’t wait for the next book in the ongoing series of mercenaries saving the day! Read more...

[A] terrific debut… Resonance and depth [are] certain to make Shadow War the book others… seek to replicate. A tour de force of form and function for a new geopolitical reality.

UK: Canelo, Michael Joseph ; Czech: Euromedia ; France: Bragelonne ; Hungary: Libri ; Japan: Chuokoron-Shinsha ; Slovakia: Ikar

Intelligent, funny, gritty, Ferrari-paced - at times even electric. Shadow War is in the running for best debut of 2016!

Interview with Sean McFate: New War Thriller Delves Into Shadowy World Of Mercenaries Read more...

Step aside, faux thriller writers and armchair warrior storytellers. Ex-mercenary Sean McFate has produced a first novel that’s assured, authentic, timely, gritty, and most of all real... I enjoyed the hell out of it.

The Atlantic published an article by Sean McFate that’s already received 2.2k view Read more...

With well-drawn and fascinating characters and ground level espionage and combat sure to please fans of Brad Thor, Tom Clancy, and Daniel Silva, Shadow War is simply one of the most entertaining and intriguing books I’ve read in quite some time.

[A] smart, exciting first novel and series launch…. Readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of Locke.

For Black Ops and lots of military action, join Tom Locke for an exciting, wild ride.

Shadow War has pace like a catapult, sudden and fierce, and it will hit readers straight between the eyes.

Wars produce warriors. Some, like special operator-turned mercenary Tom Locke, find it a curious calling that pulls them into the darkest of nights and most dangerous of places. Shadow War brings all of it to life in fascinating detail.

A gripping journey inside the world of modern warfare and espionage, and those who enjoy a good military thriller will be hoping that more Tom Locke adventures will follow quickly.