Publisher's Synopsis
All Enemies Foreign And Domestic
The NSA's most lethal weapon is back. Code-named Devlin, he operates in the darkest recesses of the US government. When international cyber-terrorists allow a deadly and cunning band of radical insurgents to breach the highest levels of national security, Devlin must take down an enemy bent on destroying America--an enemy more violent and ruthless than the world has ever known.
"Michael Walsh is the new master of the political thriller. With the sophistication of Forsyth, the intrigue of le Carré, and the intensity of Ludlum, Early Warning is an incredible thriller. This book should be stamped Satisfaction Guaranteed! " -- Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Foreign Influence
Raves for Hostile Intent
" Early Warning is a great, great, great political thriller. You'll love Walsh's books. . .Vince Flynn caliber."
--Rush Limbaugh
"Compelling, fast, dangerous" --Robert Ferrigno
"The Vince Flynn for the 21st century." --John Fasano, Darkness Falls
"Hostile Intent kept me up most of the night. Hold on, is all I can tell you." --Jay Nordlinger, National Review
"Walsh knows what he's up to."
-- USA Today
Michael Walsh is an amazing gentleman and a wordsmith in several disciplines who has achieved critical and commercial acclaim for everything from music criticism to successful screenplays to novels. The latter, which Walsh writes all too infrequently, are memorable and unusual, each a bit different from the other. His latest novel, Hostile Intent, is in a class all by itself: a full-throttle, energy-packed thriller that slices across espionage and politics with enough explosions, fisticuffs and firepower to fill five books with a bit left over for the next.
The book begins about three seconds from now with a school hostage crisis in the middle of the heartland. Attempting to deal with the situation is Jeb Tyler, the hapless, inexperienced President of the United States --- elected after one term in the Senate --- and events are coming at him with a rapidity that do not permit the on-the-job training that he or his next-to-worthless Cabinet requires. Fortunately, there is still the Army or, more specifically, General Armond "Army" Seelye, who has a secret weapon at the ready. The weapon is "Tom Powers" (not his real name), code-named Devlin (not his real name, either). Seelye, the reader learns, is Devlin's stepfather (and perhaps more), and has groomed him since childhood to be the go-to, last-resort weapon for the United States when all else fails, particularly the government itself.
The hostage situation, as it turns out, is devised by Emanuel Skorzeny, an enigmatic, brilliant and extremely dangerous billionaire with the power to topple governments or influence their elections by manipulating markets and controlling the media. Skorzeny employs a number of elements to draw the deadly Devlin out of his all-but-undetectable electronic cocoon, but his major tool is Milverton, a soldier of fortune who is Devlin's equal in every way. Devlin and Milverton have fought each other to a deadly standstill before, and the temptation of settling the unfinished business between them is too much for Devlin to resist.
Holding a young girl as a hostage in a dangerous game where the fate of the nation hangs in the balance, Devlin follows a deadly and complex trail to a date with destiny with Milverton, despite the obstacles thrown into his path by both Skorzeny and his own government. In a cataclysmic conclusion where Devlin has to face both Milverton and Skorzeny, our protagonist must defeat not only his adversaries but also the ghosts that haunt his own past if he is to know any peace.
As fast-moving and action-packed as Hostile Intent may be, the real jewel of the narrative is Walsh's backdrop presentation of the socio-political forces that have held sway over the latter half of the 20th century, resulting in the chickens that have come to roost (and rule) in the 21st. Walsh is as uncompromising and clear-eyed an observer as you are likely to find, and the book is a no-nonsense presentation of how things are, not how one might wish them to be. And he is by no means finished with Devlin's saga: Early Warning, the sequel, is scheduled for publication in 2010. After reading Hostile Intent, you will want as much of Devlin (and of Walsh) as you can possibly get. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com
"Hold on to your heartbeat. . .explodes from start to finish." --Andrew C. McCarthy, former Assistant United States Attorney and author of Willful Blindness
"Hostile Intent is audacious in the extreme, and a lot of fun."--FrontPagemag.com
"Michael Walsh writes hot blazing prose, compelling, fast, honest and dangerous. More than just a master of style, he writes about the most important subject in the world: terrorism, what it is and what it takes to defeat it. You need to read this book." --Robert Ferrigno, author of Prayers for the Assassin
"Sic pages into Hostile Intent and I began to feel uneast. By page nine I'd been punched in the gut. And it just doesn't stop." --Bill Whittle, author of Silent America
