President Denise Wilson is dead, killed by a terrorist nuclear explosion as she flew over Maryland on Marine One: the blast also killed over 30,000 Maryland citizens, on top of a previous blast in Mumbai by the same terrorist group killing over 1,000,000 residents of that city. The Speaker of the House, John Stockwell, is now President. The heart-attack death of the sitting vice president, with the office remaining unfilled, had moved him to next in the line of succession.

Wilson, of the liberal party, and conservative Stockwell, were not political allies. The secretary of state for President Wilson, Blaine Meade, also a liberal party member, has accepted Stockwell’s request and become the new vice president. This combination of shared power has set the political elites of Washington, D.C. on their heads.

Meanwhile the search for the militant Islamic terrorist group calling itself The Caliphate of Justice, has been unsuccessful. They are well financed and well hidden. The group had stolen four suitcase sized nuclear weapons from Pakistan, intending to also detonate devices in Beijing and Moscow. Fortunately, the cooperation between the nations involved allowed the other two devices to be found and disarmed.

Furious at the failure of their efforts, the Leader of the Caliphate has sworn he will secure additional nuclear weapons from a North Korean traitor and launch his Reprisal against China, Russia, and especially President Stockwell. The governments of China and Russia have joined with the U.S. to find the Caliphate and its leaders and destroy them for all time.

About the Author:

Shayde Michaels is a business executive who enjoys creating action-thrillers from the daily headlines of international political intrigue. A former Army infantry officer, he was a Gulf War One-era veteran before his business career. He weaves his fascination with current events into stories of what could—or might—happen. When not writing or working, he can be found flying his personal airplane and traveling across the country to attend a broad variety of sporting and music events with his wife, the real-life Dr. Kay.