What would happen to the efforts of law enforcement and counterterrorism experts if their abilities to track digital devices were disabled?
The chilling implications of this all too real possibility are explored in the latest spy thriller from award-winning author Jeffrey Stephens, The Handler.
In it, Stephens blurs the lines between fact and fiction with detailed descriptions of real places, looming threats from very real terrorist cells and a realistic portrayal of the networks of people required to pull off large acts of terrorism.
The book features Nick Reagan, an abundantly confident CIA operative and American hero who will go to any length to protect the country he loves. And in The Handler, Reagan and his team travel to the ends of the earth to locate an anonymous terrorist determined to unleash a series of unholy attacks on America.
Can their mission succeed when they don’t even know who they’re looking for?
Readers first meet Reagan as he traces a trail of clues to China in search of the Ghost Chip — a new technology that turns cell phones into detonators and renders them untraceable. In the hands of terrorists, the Ghost Chip would be catastrophic.
When the CIA uncovers details of a violent assault planned in New York City, Reagan and his partner, Carol Gellos, are assigned to prevent it — facing long odds and danger along the way.
As events unfold, it becomes apparent the incident in Manhattan was only the first in a se-ries of intended terrorist strikes within the United States. Even worse, Reagan discovers that the man behind this onslaught is further along in his preparations than anyone in the intelli-gence community anticipated.
The anonymous ISIS handler behind these assaults is using new technology, as well as in-formation gathered from three American scientists kidnapped in Pakistan, to coordinate his plans. The result will be a gruesome fate for thousands of innocent people … unless Reagan can stop him.
After deciphering the code being used by the Handler to plot his bloody scheme, Reagan races against time, needing help as never before from his group of talented associates, in-cluding his lover, top CIA analyst Erin David.
Throughout The Handler, the author toggles between perspectives, giving readers a chilling look inside the minds of Islamic terrorists hellbent on carrying out heinous acts in the name of the Koran, while simultaneously, Reagan risks his life to thwart the awful carnage.
BestThrillers.com calls The Handler, “A taut terrorism thriller that mesmerizes with a dizzying global conspiracy and believable stakes,” and The Real Book Spy calls it, “Jason Bourne for the new millennium.”
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