Deep Black

In Deep Black, cowritten with Jim DeFelice, a spy plane gathering intelligence on a new Russian weapon is shot down by a mysterious MiG. The cause remains unclear—accident or the beginning of a larger conflict. The National Security Agency's covert operations team, Deep Black, is tasked with investigating. Ex-Marine sniper Charlie Dean works for the NSA and is sent to Russia, partnering with former Delta Force operative Lia DeFrancesca to determine what happened to the plane. During their investigation, the Deep Black team uncovers a more serious threat: a conspiracy to assassinate the Russian president and forcibly overthrow the democratic government. Such a coup could destabilize Russia and have global repercussions. Without authorization from the government it serves, the NSA takes action. As Dean and DeFrancesca work to expose the conspiracy, they discover that one of the plane's passengers—an NSA technician—survived the crash. This survivor possesses critical information that could reach enemy hands, and those enemies are willing to kill to obtain it. This is the first book in the technothriller series.