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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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William E. Butterworth IV W.E.B. Griffin

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author comes a brand new series about the Cold War—and a new breed of warrior.
In the first weeks after the end of World War II, a squeaky-clean new second lieutenant named James D. Cronley, Jr., was spotted by the Deputy Commander of the Army Counterintelligence Corps in Europe, and recruited for a new unit. The Deputy Commander, Colonel Robert Mattingly, knew that everybody was focused on how to clean up after the war, but his concerns were different. One war had ended, but another one had already begun. The new enemy, the Soviet Union, was bigger, smarter, and more vicious, and it had hit the ground running. Mattingly’s job was to harass them, frustrate them, spy on them, and help to stop them.

Cronley was blond, blue-eyed, six-foot-one, and out of Midland, Texas, where he had been boyhood friends with a future OSS agent named Cletus Frade. Frade had made quite a name for himself based in Argentina, and even with the OSS dissolved, he was still involved in a number of projects, not the least of which concerned the former head of German intelligence, Major General Bernhard Gehlen, who had handed over names of German agents in place in the Kremlin, and Soviet spies who have infiltrated the U.S. nuclear program, the Manhattan Project. Cronley could help Frade with those, but Mattingly had other ideas for him, as well.

With luck, Cronley could become a considerable asset. Of course, he could also screw up spectacularly. And in his first assignment, that looks exactly like what’s going to happen. He’s managed to rile up some superior officers—he seems to have a talent for that—and he’s in danger of being relieved of duty. He’s got seven days to extract a vital piece of information from a key Soviet agent. If he fails, that may be all the days he has left.

There are enemies everywhere—and some of them wear the same uniform he does.

W.E.B. Griffin is the author of six other bestselling series: The Corps, Brotherhood of War, Badge of Honor, Men at War, Honor Bound, and Presidential Agent. He lives in Fairhope, Alabama, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

William E. Butterworth IV has been a writer and editor for major newspapers and magazines for over twenty-five years and has worked closely with his father for several years on the editing of the Griffin books. He is the co-author of several novels in the Badge of Honor, Men at War, Honor Bound, and Presidential Agent series. He lives in Florida.
Available products
Book

Published 2014-08-05 by Putnam

Book

Published 2014-08-05 by Putnam

Comments

Those who are happy with lots of interesting period history, dry humor, and clever scheming will be amply rewarded.

G-fans will not be disappointed.

A thrilling new series entitled Clandestine Operations has begun, opening doors into special ops, investigating the path to the Cold War, and unveiling clandestine connections between Argentina and Germany during WWII. . . . This incredible mix of intrigue, diplomacy and, of course, a bit of romance, is fantastic. The reader will note the horror of the war, along with the massive role intelligence agents played in the eventual victory. In other words, when this story from a literary team that ignites suspense lovers everywhere comes to a close, readers will be panting for the next novel.