Covert Action

Following their military defeat in the Battle of Taiwan, China opens a new front in the struggle for geopolitical supremacy.

As China’s Belt and Road Initiative brings together the final pieces of a 1000-mile rail and road connection between China and Tehran, a series of terrorist attacks rock the fractious states of Central Asia. A declining Russia, an isolated India, and a rising Iran all have a stake in the region.

But who is behind the mysterious attacks?

President Serrano, in the midst of another election cycle, just wants the problem to disappear. He puts his trust in Don Riley, the newly appointed CIA Deputy Director of Operations, to deal with the situation.

Quietly.

As tensions escalate, Don leads a covert action to protect America’s interests in the region and blunt the Chinese economic juggernaut. What he discovers threatens to drag the United States into another international conflict.

Covert Action is a high-stakes military thriller from the minds of former submarine officer David Bruns and retired naval intelligence officer J.R. Olson. Packed with propulsive action and pulse-pounding intrigue, this explosive and timely thriller is a must-read for fans of Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney.

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What readers are saying:

★★★★★ ＂...superbly written.＂
★★★★★ ＂...fast and nimble...＂
★★★★★ ＂...so much more than a military thriller...＂
★★★★★ ＂...frighteningly plausible and completely gripping...＂
★★★★★ ＂...plot twists, nail-biting tension, and intense combat sequences.＂

J.R. Olson graduated from Annapolis in May of 1990 with a BS in History. He served as a naval intelligence officer, retiring in March of 2011 at the rank of commander. His assignments during his 21-year career included duty aboard aircraft carriers and large deck amphibious ships, participation in numerous operations around the world, to include Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, and Afghanistan, and service in the U.S. Navy in strategic-level Human Intelligence (HUMINT) collection operations as a CIA-trained case officer. J.R. earned an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies at the U.S. Naval War College in 2004, and in August of 2018 he completed a Master of Public Affairs degree at the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. Today, J.R. often serves as a visiting lecturer, teaching national security courses in Carleton College’s Department of Political Science, and hosts his radio show, National Security This Week, on KYMN Radio in Northfield, Minnesota.

David Bruns earned a Bachelor of Science in Honors English from the United States Naval Academy. (That’s not a typo. He’s probably the only English major you’ll ever meet who took multiple semesters of calculus, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, naval architecture, and weapons systems just so he could read some Shakespeare. It was totally worth it.) Following six years as a US Navy submarine officer, David spent twenty years in the high-tech private sector. A graduate of the prestigious Clarion West Writers Workshop, he is the author of over twenty novels and dozens of short stories. Today, he co-writes contemporary national security thrillers with retired naval intelligence officer, J.R. Olson.