Robert J. Saniscalchi Presents MagNanoTron: A Bond of Brothers Thriller!

 

The local police called in the vast resources of the FBI. After close analysis of the crime scene, it was determined that the shooter had to come from the passenger side of the vehicle. After examining the type and amount of shell casings, it was suspected that a submachine gun, possibly an Uzi, was used in the assault. In all probability, there were two suspects: one male – the shooter – and one female, driving the BMW. Everyone was out, everywhere, searching for the killers. A few unlucky residents had the scare of their lives, because of the color and make of the car they were driving, but no suspects. The intense manhunt continued. 

A week later, in Maryland, it was a cold, gray, early-December day at the cemetery. Walter Beck was an Army veteran, with twenty years in law enforcement, and he was being buried with full military honors. His flag-draped coffin was slowly carried to the gravesite by his fellow CIA agents, while a crowd of friends and family, along with a large presence of police officers and agents, stood watching. A line of soldiers in full dress stood at attention, as a priest said some heartfelt prayers. 

Tanner had talked with the shaken family. Beck left behind a loving wife, a daughter getting ready for college and a twelve-year-old son who looked just like him. It was a sad, somber day. Afterward, the soldiers slowly moved into formation, mounted their rifles and fired off a salute. Tanner was flooded with emotion, and almost lost it when “Taps” was played, and the soldiers slowly and meticulously folded the flag. He had a bad taste in his mouth about the nasty spies who had shot Walter. He wanted to kill them all. 

In Fort Bragg, Androvski and Darious were on base, and working on the preparations for testing. Commander Ryan was in his office when he got a call from General Stanis. He was shocked to hear about the slain CIA agent, and that two operatives suspected to have a Russian connection were spying on the Devcom facilities. “Sorry to hear about this, sir,” Ryan said. “Do we have any leads on these creeps?” 

“Unfortunately, they got away for now,” Stanis replied; “the police, CIA and FBI are still searching. "Unfortunately, they got away for now,” Stanis replied; “the police, CIA and FBI are still searching. The president was briefed and has been assured that all assets for Magnanotron were safe and secured. Stanis told him, after looking through the details of the assault on the agent, that his gut tells him it’s the Russians, but he could be wrong. “Oh, and, as of midnight tonight,” Stanis added, “we’re going to DEFCON-three alert status.” 

“Well, sir, Magnanotron and the scientists are here on base, with hundreds of Special Forces troops,” Ryan replied. “I can’t think of a safer place in the world.” “Agreed, Commander,” Stanis added. “We need to keep Magnanotron on base for now, and get this spy thing sorted out.” Ryan sipped his coffee. “Devcom is good. It’s locked down tight and we got Army airborne troops over there.” “I will keep you informed, Commander,” General Stanis replied. “Please let me know how the testing goes.” The two leaders talked about the general’s hunch on the Russian thing. Ryan leaned that way as well, and had the same feeling; it had to be the Russians. 

At Delta’s quarters, the men were taking it easy. Blair and McDonough were playing the video game they would go nuts with, when Thomas Blacknal came walking in with a smile. “I’m back!” “Goddamn, look what the wind blew in!” Dudash said, as he jumped up from his bed. “Good to see you, Tommy. You look good,” Tex said with a smile. “I knew you would be okay.” “The doctors said the body armor saved my life, for sure. Shoulder’s still a little sore,” Blacknal replied, “but I got my mojo back.” Blacknal’s eyes grew wide. “You shoulda seen them nurses! They was mighty fine. Got me motivated, yes, sir.” Tex had to laugh, as everyone welcomed their friend and fellow soldier back home...

~~~

It all started when someone had carelessly thrown away his reminder of a recent event. There were just three words. But they were important key words: Magnanotron, Androvsky and testing. Reading the crumbled note, taken from the garbage, gave the spy all that he needed--that together with the obvious excitement that had been going on around him... He immediately reported...

Americans should know by now that the world has spies--everywhere. After all, we, too, have them... The only main difference I see is that America works to prevent harm insofar as possible. Other countries, those run by dictators, care about only one thing. Power and Winning. And, now, one of the world's foremost dictators had been keyed in on one of the most important military weapons that had ever been achieved! The dictator wanted it! And all the action is set in America...

It was 2010 when I first met Robert and read Bullets and Bandages. He was telling a story told to him by his brother... I don't think I will ever forget the fact that Robert was the one to write this first story, which set off a career in military fiction writing that continues, this time, with a fascinating thriller that I couldn't help but think, while reading, Oh, if it were only true... (Do a search by author to see reviews of his other books...)

You see, two scientists have been working on a top-secret level under a military contract and have achieved a major breakthrough. Testing had begun, first on a dummy, then a small animal, and, finally, on a human. Each level of testing was reviewed at the highest level--the President of the United States and he was making the final decision, based upon viewing what happened at each level of testing.

When it reached the final level of testing, of course, it was important that those who would be actually using the MagNanoTron would be those who did the testing. Special Forces DeltaTeam was the obvious choice. Readers quickly enjoy meeting each member of the team, while participating in the camaraderie during who will be...first... At the same time, this reader took special note that during all that was happening, there was a lot of prayer happening by various characters... This was an important addition for me... It helps to personalize that these are real people participating in something that could be very dangerous, yet, willing to do so because of what the result could be... Our Nation's Freedom.

Of course it was the scenes between the spy team members and the special forces that turns the book into a thriller... Especially when one of the scientist is kidnapped! Everybody knows that this one individual could recreate the MagNanoTron for that dictator's country! That was to be prevented! At All Costs!

Because of the MagNanoTron and its potential use, I have not shared much about what is actually happening. You have to read it to believe it... And, again, I say, wouldn't it be wonderful if it was really possible?! 

If you read military fiction, I'd call this a must-read. Thriller readers of all types will also be excited and, perhaps, exhilarated, as I was when the Special Forces Delta Team takes on the kidnappers! Do Check it Out!

GABixlerReviews

James Houston Turner Throws Terrific Thriller in November Echo - How and When Talanov Became A Spy! BRH Favorite Book of 2013!

"So the smiles he gave people stopping by his table were not genuine, not that anyone cared. For one thing, people did not stick around long enough to notice it was a façade. And he knew the reason. In spite of his popularity, he was still KGB.     "In the wake of Noya's death -- which was over six months ago -- he'd become even more cynical and bitter toward the KGB and what it represented. And it took everything within him not to let his feelings be known.
"But he hadn't, and during these months, working undercover as November Echo, he had supplied La Tâche with the names of numerous Soviet moles operating within the United States government and related private sectors. He also supplied him with information on Soviet weapons programs and ongoing intelligence operations.
"He remembered La Tâche asking him once how he could betray his country. He replied that he wasn't betraying his country, only the disease infecting it.  "People should not have to live in fear of their government," Talanov said. "That's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
"This isn't about Russia. This isn't about America. It's about the Noyas of the world. And don't for a second think I won't hold you every bit as accountable as I hold myself and those I'm taking down.
"Does this answer your question?"    
"Talanov remembered how loud the silence was on the phone.
"Then we understand one another," Talanov said, hanging up.
~~~

    November Echo

. By James Houston Turner

Kravenko had been simple and clear:
 slip quietly into Spain and intercept
Dr. Yefim Gorev, a scientist from the
 Soviet Union's weaponized anthrax facility
 at Sverdlovsk, in the foothills of the
 Ural Mountains eight hundred miles
 east of Moscow. But slipping quietly
into Spain was not what they were doing.
 They were doing the exact opposite.
And therein lay the problem.  
Which would not be a problem if he
delivered the goods -- in this case,
Gorev -- and which would be a problem
 if he did not.     Silencing Kravenko's
advisors had not been easy.
 Their argument: that Gorev had
disappeared with his family in
 Leningrad. It therefore made no sense
 for him to cross all of Europe in a risky
 flight to Spain. Helsinki was the
logical choice. Or London. Or some
 northern European city where sanctuary
 was obtainable at any of the American
 Consulates or military bases.
     Talanov's counter-argument had been
 a chain of solid but circumstantial
 evidence pointing to Spain. Back and
 forth they argued, with neither side
 giving an inch. It was a stalemate:
a twenty-eight-year-old KGB colonel
 against five old-school gray-haired
 conservatives in cheap suits and
polyester ties. Having come up through
 the army together, the five advisors
 viewed everyone with disdain and
 suspicion, especially progressives
 like Talanov and Gorbachev. The
 result was a group of individuals as
 antiquated and unimaginative
as the clothes they wore.
~~~

It's not often that I feel a need to go backward in time with a series character...others have written prequels which never seemed to be too much different than another book... but when Turner's fans ask for more information on how Talanov came to be a spy, James Turner gave us much more than information. This is a solid piece of thriller action that is unstoppable from cover to cover. 

The story may even have become my favorite, perhaps because it first shows the United States reps working directly with Talanov.  I think, more, though, there was a focus given on the internal thoughts and feelings of Talanov. And when fans look at the attractive young man he was at 28, after reading this novel, we now know how and why he became the intense ice-man hero that so many of us have come to love in such a short time.

Let me give you another example, out of context...

"Talanov remembered wanting to cry that day. But he did not. Instead, he shoved her memory away just as he shoved his dǎoshī away. The one person he cared about most had been ripped away from him by the only other person he cared about -- his dǎoshī -- who had turned on him like the weather of Khan Tengri, which lures you onto its slopes with its majestic, friendly red afternoon glow, only to trap and kill you. 
"For a while, he tried hating her. It was no use. How can you hate someone who makes you so happy? He just hated the ache that he felt now that she was gone. He hated the ache he felt when he remembered her shy smile and laughing eyes, or that tangle of silky black hair falling in straggly wisps around her face. He hated wanting so desperately to find her but knowing he couldn't. And before leaving the monastery, he vowed never to let anyone make him feel so unhappy and lost again.
"And in that moment, ledyanoĭ chelovek -- the "ice man" -- was born.     Yes, it took every bit of strength that he had not to let them see him cry. And he didn't, nor had he cried since -- ever -- not once.     Until now.     Standing alone on the bow of the freighter, 

So that readers can consider this novel in relation to real activities which actually occurred, I am including an item in the front of the novel, which is very important to correlating the story with what happens in November Echo, which I normally wouldn't do, but will help everybody understand why this novel is so important to me, to others...

1972 -- The Biological Weapons Convention becomes the first multinational treaty prohibiting the production and use of an entire category of weapons. The United States and Soviet Union are among the original twenty-two signatories of this treaty. In compliance, the United States destroys its military stockpiles. The Soviet Union claims to destroy its stockpiles but in fact responds by creating Biopreparat, the largest biological weapons program in history. Over the next few years, forty-seven top-secret installations are built across Russia.

1979 -- "Anthrax 836" spores are accidentally released from military Compound 19 in Sverdlovsk, USSR. Nearly one hundred people die within days although thousands are believed to have perished. Sverdlovsk and the surrounding area is quarantined by the Soviet military. Decontamination trucks arrive. Reports of the incident surface in the West, and the Soviet Union is accused of violating the Biological Weapons Convention. The Soviet Union vigorously denies the accusations by insisting the outbreak was caused by tainted meat. All medical records relevant to the incident are immediately destroyed.

1982 -- Spain joins NATO and announces plans to join the European Economic Community, resulting in violent demonstrations and protests. 1983 -- U.S. President Reagan announces plans for his Strategic Defense Initiative (“ Star Wars”) missile defense system in space. Pershing II missiles are deployed in West Germany. Korean Airliner KAL 007 is shot down by the Soviet Air Force; all crew and passengers are killed. The Soviet leadership is convinced that KAL 007 had been an American intelligence mission. Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union escalate to an all-time high. The Balashikha sabotage and terrorism complex near Moscow is now in full operation.

1985 -- Thousands are now demonstrating across Spain against NATO and the American presence. Violence is everywhere. The Soviet Union's manufacture of biological weapons.

"Sofia responded with an exasperated sigh.
 "Yes, I made the reservation."  
"Which name did you use?"
     "The one you told me to use. But I still
 do not understand what we are doing.
"We are here to catch a defector and you
have me booking a suite in the name of a
ballerina."     "Anna Pavlova is not just
 a ballerina."
    "Stop it, Sasha. What is going on?
 How do we plan to catch Gorev?"
     "Talanov smiled. "Patience, my dear."
     The assignment given to them last Tuesday
 in the office of KGB Deputy Chairman
 Walter Kravenko had been simple and clear:
 slip quietly into Spain and intercept
Dr. Yefim Gorev, a scientist from the
 Soviet Union's weaponized anthrax
 facility at Sverdlovsk, in the foothills of the
 Ural Mountains eight hundred miles east
of Moscow. But slipping quietly into Spain
 was not what they were doing.
They were doing the exact opposite.
And therein lay the problem.  
~~~

Talanov had been sent to find and bring back a family that had disappeared, assumed to be defecting. But what Talanov had not counted on was being given a partner... You see, everybody knew he was the best, and he normally worked on his own with his own plan of action in responding to his assignments--which he always successfully completed. In fact, already had his plan worked out, assuming he'd be on his way shortly...  Until he met Sofia Dubinina, a beautiful woman who he'd never met before and also not worked with! Who was she?

Nevertheless, Talanov went full speed on his plan to get to Spain. He gave instructions to Sofia, and she immediately started with "whys..." No, Talanov didn't trust her, but he was prepared to work with her as long as she followed his instructions. That was apparently not going to happen easily...

His idea, quite simply, was not to slip gently anywhere. He wanted everybody, from every country involved, to know he was in Spain. Sofia seemed to think they might be told to get back home and abort the assignment. That she did not want to have happen... So she quickly fell into place as Talanov's companion, allowed him to dress her in fine clothes, take her to the best restaurants and clubs... In fact, Talanov made sure he had the money for handling this job as he wanted it, simply by doing another thing that he did well... He had Sofia meet him in Spain and on his way, he's already won a substantial amount of money that he carried with him in a small case... And as soon as he was in Spain, they were often seen together, using cash only, with the casino bosses quickly falling to meet Talanov's demands...and constantly winning...

But Talanov knew one thing nobody else did. Where the safe house was where Dr. Gorev would be waiting to meet...

Dr. Gorev had brought his parents, his wife and his daughter. None of them were willing to feel secure until they were safely on their way. Gorev had brought samples of what he'd been forced to work on--Anthrax! Even while the Soviet Union had been one of the countries signing the 1972 agreement to destroy all biological weapons, they had been establishing locations throughout the country for making and testing such weapons. Gorev had been one of the major scientists working to ensure the best possible use of Anthrax and had steadily refined and tested--on prisoners--until he could so longer stand it. He wanted out and asylum for his family!

He had thought Spain would be the best location for meeting, but by the time arrangements were made, the streets on which they would have routinely traveled were now filled with protestors!

Everybody involved--the U.S. who would be meeting the doctor and his family--as well as those searching for Gorev's to either return or kill them, were now forced to also deal with the police who were out in full numbers, dealing with the thousands of protestors who had come into the city...

For readers, we are right in the middle of car chases, gang fights, protestors fighting the police, as well as the need for the United States representatives to successfully meet and get Gorev, et. al., out of Spain!

And one explosive surprise sends Talanov into so much turmoil, frustration, and anger that we also revisit with him as he remembers when he was still free to feel--when he was not the ice man that they now called him... What was it? A teenager, named Noyabŕ, Noya, Dr. Gorev's daughter who, upon meeting them and for most of the time, displayed no emotions, only hopelessness, that anything would ever work out...

And it was beginning to look like she was right, especially when she stood and watched as her grandparents were murdered...first...

OMG, I don't know how some authors do it, but James Houston Turner certainly has the skill to wrap readers around his fingers, tied up in every word, emotionally, mentally, and sometimes even physically involved as the action gets so tense that we don't realize that, after all, it's just a book, fiction... Yet, he does it! And he shows true facts upon which his fictional thrills are based. Some could even be true...but reading about it or even seeing it in the news just does not bring us the most important thing...context... Turner brings us right into the streets as he faces gang members with knives or even into the house--that house that was supposed to have been safe...

But there is no safety to be found...

Talanov Rules! He's my hero! But Turner? I think even Talanov worries about him...Read November Echo by James Houston Turner!

"Let me understand this, Turner...You want me to do WHAT?!!!"

GABixlerReviews!

James Houston Turner is the bestselling author of the Aleksandr Talanov thriller series, as well as numerous other books and articles. Talanov the fictional character was inspired by the actual KGB agent who leaked word out of Moscow back in the 1980s that James was on a KGB watchlist for his smuggling activities behind the old Iron Curtain.

James Houston Turner's debut thriller, Department Thirteen, was voted the Best Thriller of 2011 by USA Book News, after which it won gold medals in the 2012 Independent Publisher ("IPPY") Book Awards and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

A cancer survivor and former journalist in Los Angeles, he holds a Bachelor's Degree from Baker University and a Master's Degree from the University of Houston (Clear Lake). After living in South Australia for nearly twenty years, he and his wife, Wendy, a former triathlon winner, now live in Austin, Texas. Visit his website at www.talanov.info.

Football, Espionage Merged For Great Thriller!

Image via Wikipedia

"Times were still tense between the
United States and the Soviet Union, so they
needed to be sure the teams understood
that this was an exhibition and not
WWIII..."
"It was the first time a Russian team had
scored a touchdown on American soil.
If the two governments could have seen
the camaraderie between the players
and the coaches, the Cold War might
have been something in the past.
"Sports had a way of bringing people
together that no other activity could. It
was the pure competition, man on man,
team on team, that made it so
special..."

Teamwork




  Bob Robustelli




When I was working one of the positions held was head of Facilities Management at a local university, which included the responsibility to coordinate and negotiate the use of institutional facilities, including all those used for both academic and athletic activities. I was pleasantly surprised then, when I started to read Teamwork and learned that much of the activities regarding football was that conducted in the background. In this case, the final goal was to host the third game of the NFL in Russia!

Let's just say that Mickey Rossetti had never planned on being sent to Russia, living there and then having a major role at the chosen stadium where the game was to be held!

Nor did he ever imagine what was actually happening while he was coordinating with Russian representatives to get their athletes prepared to play football--training, selection of teams, scheduling games within the EFL, etc.

At the same time that football was being introduced to athletes, government officials, and citizens, there was much more happening in Russia! It had been discovered that nukes had been stolen and were soon going to be used!

Suddenly Mickey and many others from both the United States and Russia were forced into becoming operatives, seeking and passing intelligence between players from both countries, merged as a team to save mass destruction across the world...

This picture selected by me, no names were
actually used in this book...
"In the middle of January, two of the most
powerful people in the world sat down for
the first time to discuss the nuclear arms race,
the state of the Soviet economy, and fourteen
nuke cases that had gone missing...
"...But the most important development
during that time period never made the
headlines of any paper or newscast:
somewhere on the Eurasian Steppes, in
the southwestern part of the USSR, two
scientists and a colonel detonated a nuke
suitcase by remote control..."http://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/6/66/Reagan_and
_Gorbachev_hold_discussions.jpg 

As readers enter the ravaged country so affected by the cold war, they share the devastating lack of food and proper facilities along with the high cost of getting anything from other countries, if they could get anything at all. But all activities regarding bringing football to Russia, and hopefully improving the economy would be supported by the government.

An investment for the future?

Football fans will certainly enjoy watching new teams being formed and moving toward expansion of their favorite game into other countries...But be prepared to begin watching one of the most intriguing games of international espionage, headed personally by the presidents of the two countries, that is based upon potential and actual events which happened during the 80s.

I enjoyed delving into the history of that time period and other lovers of history fiction and espionage novels may also be as intrigued... Talk about writing what you know--check out his bio below! The merge of football within international history is, in my opinion, seamless and lends a more personal, a warmer touch to these dramatic events, drawing readers in, matching their memories of what took place against the author's story. Me, I just enjoyed a great thriller that was uniquely presented, while I have NO idea whether any football games ever took place there in Russia--anybody know?



Note: Somewhere this author saw I enjoyed reading Richard Doetsch so he sent me the above Yep, I wanted to read it too! Cool Marketing on his part, don't you think?


About the Author:   After his college days at the University of Connecticut, Bob Robustelli worked in the family corporate travel and sports marketing business. His responsibilities included promoting American football in Mexico, Europe and Russia. Robustelli's father played for the New York Giants and is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame, credentials that helped with his associations with football. Throughout his travels, which took him to all parts of the world, he read thrillers and always thought his job was a good cover for a CIA agent. The idea for Teamwork had been formulating with Robustelli for some time, when three years ago he committed to writing it, taking courses at the Westport Writers Workshops and attending numerous seminars. He's enjoyed the process of learning the trade, but realizes there is much more to learn. He's looking forward to the journey.

Book Received
from Author


GABixlerReviews