by Ted Halstead
Vasilyev said in a low voice, “Badly.”
“Correct,” Smyslov said, nodding.
Turning to Grishkov, Smyslov said, “Now, to give you a direct answer to your question, this time, there is just a single missing weapon.”
Smyslov paused.
“Unfortunately, it is ours, and it is thermonuclear.”
First, thanks very much for reading my book! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I’d really appreciate it if you could leave a review—even a short one—on Amazon.
If in spite of the best efforts of my editor (and me!) you found a typo or some other error, please let me know with details. I will fix it!
If you have questions, please send those to me too. You can reach me at my blog, https://thesecondkoreanwar.wordpress.com or on Twitter at https://Twitter.com/TedHalstead18
Or if all else fails, you can e-mail me directly at [email protected]
I’ll answer a few questions now that I received after my first two books. First, are any of the stories in the books from my own experience, and if so which ones?
You can apply common sense to answer that one.
In my first book, The Second Korean War:
Characters set mines, throw grenades, and attempt to defuse nuclear weapons.
None of that was me.
Characters describe kicking up tear “gas” powder on a Seoul subway platform and not enjoying the results, and dealing with poorly aimed golf balls hit by American military officers landing in their yard at Yongsan Army Base in Seoul.
Yes, that was me.
In my second book, The Saudi-Iranian War:
Characters fire rockets, and drive a truck off a pier.
Not me.
Characters in Saudi Arabia go through traffic experiences themselves, and recount others. They describe the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. Hulk Hogan makes an unexpected appearance in the narrative.
All me, all true.
In the book you just finished…I think you get the idea.
Many readers have asked questions along the lines of “why would the Russians want to help.” I think the answer is simple. Like citizens of all countries, Russians want first and foremost to help themselves.
In each book, I’ve tried to lay out what I believe is a compelling case for the Russians to take action. I think it’s also important to remember what the Russians are actually risking in these books—the lives of a few agents, and a plane here, a drone there.
So, each time Russia may not stand to gain that much. But the risk/reward ratio is always very, very favorable. To me, that makes Russia’s actions in the books credible.
I noted on the book listing page that all of my books are set in the near future, not the present. Please keep that in mind when deciding whether the technology described in this book is plausible. If you still think not, remember that not so long ago widespread GPS capability in cars and phones wouldn’t have been just science fiction. It would have been not very credible science fiction.
Finally, some readers may believe that Rangers would not be assigned missions of the sort described in this book, or that they are not true “special forces.” I would first note that Rangers fall under SOCOM, and participated in the raid that killed al-Baghdadi. If that’s not good enough, I’ll again remind readers that this book is set in the near future, when I expect Rangers to be called upon more and more to carry out such missions.
Thanks again for reading my book, and I hope you will enjoy my next one in 2021!
Cast of Characters
Alphabetical Order by Nationality
Most Important Characters in Bold
Afghan Citizens
Amooz, fighter on the side of the Russians since the 1980s
Baddar, Taliban leader
Afan Malik, Mullah Abdul Zahed’s nephew and videographer
Hashmat Mohebi, Taliban leader
Fereshtah Saheb, girl’s school principal
Mamnoon Sahar, Taliban bomber
Khaled Tanha, Taliban leader
Mullah Abdul Zahed, Taliban leader
Pakistani Citizens
Nasir Cheema, nuclear technician
Colonel Azita Kamar, Senior Military Police Investigator
General Firoz Kulkari, Commander of Pakistani Forces (replaced Monir)
General Ehsan Monir, Commander of Pakistani Forces
Ibrahim Munawar, nuclear technician now working for Taliban
Hamza Shadid, Prime Minister of Pakistan
Khaksar Wasiq, Taliban leader
Indian Citizens
Judge Bachchan, CBI Secret Detention Facility, near Mumbai
Akshay Roshan, scientist, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune, India
Russian Citizens
Captain Igor Bronstein, 201st Military Base, Tajikistan
Anatoly Grishkov, FSB agent, former Vladivostok homicide detective
Dr. Kotov, Gospital Fsb Na Shchukinskoy, Moscow
Neda Rhahbar, FSB agent, former Iranian citizen
FSB Director Smyslov
Mikhail Vasilyev, FSB agent
American Citizens
Captain Walt Addison, U.S. Space Command watch officer
Carol Banning, U.S. Cyber Command analyst
U.S. President Hernandez
Sergeant Alonzo Johnson, communications technician, Creech Air Base
Captain Mike Lombardy, Deputy Commander, Seal Team Six
Commander Dave Martins, Commander, Seal Team Six
Captain Josh Pettigrew, Deputy Commander of Drone Operations, Creech Air Base
Fred Popel, Secretary of State
General Robinson, the Air Force Chief of Staff
Captain John Rogoff, Ranger unit commander
Chuck Soltis, the White House Chief of Staff
Lt. Col. Emmanuel Wainwright, Commander of Drone Operations, Creech Air Base
