Friday Feature Author Interviews #1 with Elise Cooper: The Adversary and Tom Clancy Executive Power by Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson

The Adversary and Executive Power by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson show why they are one of the best thriller authors today. They have realistic, gripping, and action-packed plots. With Black Friday approaching, these books will be great holiday gifts.

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Book Description

For John Dempsey, it’s a time of uncertainty.

As a new administration tries to piece together who was behind the assassination of an American president, Task Force Ember is a team without a target. Newly minted POTUS Kelso Jarvis is haunted by strange dreams of a house on fire, and Dempsey’s son, Jake—who has begun his own journey as a SEAL—can’t escape the ghost of the father he believes to be dead.

But when a routine intelligence-gathering mission in Taiwan goes horribly wrong and one of Ember’s own is captured, Dempsey’s frustration only grows. As Ember races to rescue their teammate before it’s too late, three of America’s strongest warriors—Dempsey, Jarvis, and Jake—must ask themselves if tomorrow’s adversary resides across the Taiwan Strait, or within themselves.

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Elise’s Thoughts

There are three subplots in The Adversary. Ember’s computer expert Richard Wang has been kidnapped by the Chinese in Taiwan. The whole team know they must rescue Wang, and their biggest enemy is time. They need to rescue him before it becomes impossible to find him. Another subplot is President Jarvis and the First Lady Petra deciding who will run in the next election. As if this is not enough, there is the story of Dempsey’s son Jake Kemper following in his footsteps to become a Navy SEAL. This is the book where Jake and John do have a reunion and are forced to work together to rescue Wang. There is also the emotions that are swelling up in both.  

Per usual, the story has a villain everyone will hate, characters with emotional baggage, and lots of intense action. This Tier One world is exceptional and the only regret by readers is that they must wait for the next story to come out.

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Book Description

Luanda, Angola
An American intelligence team on a routine mission is wiped out. The sole survivor: Kyle Ryan, youngest son of President Jack Ryan.

But the massacre of his colleagues is just the prelude to an even more devastating conflict—a deadly military coup in the central African nation. The next step is a shocking escalation, the seizure of the American Embassy and the taking of numerous hostages including the ambassador and the younger Ryan.

As US forces fight insurgents street by street in the African capital city, Lieutenant Katie Ryan leads the effort to untangle the mystery behind the coup and the identity of the plotters. Is it the Chinese government? Is it a corrupt Angolan general? Or is there a darker force pulling the strings?

In the White House Situation Room, President Jack Ryan and his National Intelligence Team anxiously await the answers. He may have a full Marine Expeditionary Unit at his command, but the full executive power of the presidency is useless if they can’t find the target.

One thing’s for sure, Kyle and his fellow hostages sit at the center of the bullseye—human shields to deflect an American response. Jack Ryan has faced many challenges as President, but solving this problem is no one-man job. It’s going to take all three of them to get through this.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Tom Clancy’s Executive Power features the two youngest Ryan children, Katie and Kyle (a numbers person). A three-man Defense Intelligence Agency team in Angola is attacked where two are killed and the third, Kyle, survives and escapes to the US Embassy. Unfortunately, he is not safe because the embassy was seized and taken over by a terrorist group that has just overthrown the current government. Their leader, Victor Baptista, takes hostages including Kyle. Navy Lieutenant Commander Katie Ryan is asked to find a way to rescue the American hostages and find the identity of the kidnappers. This story has it all including kidnapping, torture, politics, covert intel work, and Marines sent in to help with the rescue.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Since you are writing so many series, do you divvy up or write together?

Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson:  We write together in everything we do.  Everything has both of us on the page.

EC: How did you get the idea for the Tier One series latest book The Adversary?

BA & JW: This is book nine.  The last Ember book focused on Dempsey being back from Russia.  We want to feature a different member of the team with each book.  In this one Richard Wang became a main character instead of a peripheral character. He might not get that much more page time, but people learn a lot more about him. This is the first time in the series he has a point of view. The readers over time can get to know the entire family of characters. We want readers to get to know them as we know them in our mind.

EC: How would you describe Wang?

BA & JW: He is not a warrior. After being kidnapped by the Chinese he feels helpless, has been tortured, fearful, he tries to play the game, and contemplates what will happen to him. He is in “direct support” and over the years has convinced himself he is a badass warrior. This is a very big slap in the face awakening where he realizes he is not John Dempsey.  We flush it out by having him ask the question to himself several times, ‘what would John Dempsey do.’ He feels he must channel his relationship with Dempsey to help himself.

EC: What do you want to say about China in this book: adversary, enemy, or fren-enemy?

BA & JW: China is a nation state trying to undermine democracy, undermine the US military, and actively trying to exert influence in Pacific regions of the world, pinning their natural interests against our own. We are going to call a spade a spade. We refuse to pretend this is not happening. This is the equivalent for the modern generation to the 70s and 80s Cold War with Russia that was always talked about. The stakes are enormous encompassing business, economics, and who will be the superpower.

EC: Why do you put Grimes through the ringer?

BA & JW: Speaking as a reader, if there are too many character arcs it bogs the plot down to keep everything straight. To bring one of the other team characters forward, somebody else needed to fade into the background.  We chose Lizzie Grimes in this one to fade into the background. There is a toll with the characters. We want people to see, understand, and appreciate the real human toll these people do in real life, which is why we gave Grimes a beating.

EC: What are Jake’s feelings for his dad, John?

BA & JW: Jake felt his dad chose team over family and did not balance his career and his family. He has mixed emotions towards his dad. The more Jake becomes part of the team the more he understands his dad’s feelings.  Jake was a child when his dad disappeared from his life and now realizes he lied to him and his mother. Jake cannot believe that John allowed them to think he was dead and buried. Again, we wanted to make things as realistic as possible. John feels his new family is the Tier One family. This will be a complex relationship.  There will be a couple of books dealing with this storyline.

EC: Both of you must have a crystal ball considering President Jarvis had a dream about burning up the East Wing of the White House.  Please explain.

BA & JW: This was written before anything President Trump decided to do about the ballroom.

EC:  Next book?

BA & JW: We had so much momentum with this book that we changed our publishing schedule around to write the next Tier One book. It comes out in July and is titled Insurgent.  The reason we did this is because of the two questions readers will have regarding Jake and John as well as Petra and Jarvis. Those questions will be answered in the next book. Several of our characters will think overtly about where they came from and where are they going. It comes to the front in the next book.

EC:  What about any TV/film from the books?

BA & JW: All the series we do will wind up in both venues of books and media. Many of our series are in development. There will be a give and take about which comes first the books or the media.

EC:  What about the Tom Clancy book, Executive Power?

BA & JW: This is our last Tom Clancy book because we wanted to have all our books with one publisher. We wanted to show what nation will have economic, social, moral, and political influence in the improvised part of the world in Angola.  The minerals could make them wealthy. The US needs to be the influencer, not China, in this area of the world because that partner will be not just economically but also politically and militarily. China could have a naval base there with easy access to the Atlantic that they never had before. There is a lot at play with these emerging nations. We tried very hard to reflect this complexity in the story.

EC: Did you want to show how the US is underestimated?

BA & JW: Impoverished nations don’t underestimate what we could do but do underestimate US resolve. Like right after 9/11, all the politics went out the window, and we were America against the enemy. People underestimate our will. This is what happens in the story, where Victor Baptista never imagined President Ryan would send in the Marines. We showed that if poked hard enough the US will not care about the politics and will do the right thing.

EC: The coup showed what?

BA & JW: The leaders are acting in their own self-interest and question what their priority is. The incumbent President in Angola thought it was better for him to make deals with China than to make deals with America because China gave a better deal.  The coup showed how the new President wanted to leverage a better deal.

EC: What about Katie and Kyle’s personality versus the other two Ryan siblings?

BA & JW: They are sister and brother in the Ryan clan.  They are kindred spirits, rely on each other, can read each other, and have an inseparable bond. With the Ryan family the oldest daughter followed mom and became a doctor, Jack Ryan Jr is a gunslinger trying to be everything his dad wasn’t.  There is a wide number of years between Katie/Kyle and the older siblings.

EC: How would you describe Kyle?

BA & JW: Kyle’s personality is very different than his dads. He is not a warrior but is a negotiator. If he does his job well there is no need to send someone like John Dempsey for the violent action, which should be the last resort.  We want to highlight characters like Kyle and Wang because of the important job they do.

EC: In The Adversary there was the AI sub and Carmen. What do you want to say about AI since it is used in your stories?

BA & JW: Since we write a modern military thriller reflecting the real-world technology there should be AI in the plots. We also put it in the Clancy books.  All the AI in the books is based on real world technology that is being utilized currently by the military. The technological ability to gather information has increased where human analysts are faced with an impossible task of looking at billions of pieces of data. The ability to get information far exceeds the ability to analyze it. Without some form of AI that can categorize and point out to the human operators in real time, things will get missed.  This shows the value of AI. We try to show in all our series the concern of AI.  That is the need to make sure humans do not give away their decision making to AI. The military has said that at no point would anyone, but a human make a kill order. They will get information, advice, strategy from AI but AI will never decide to kill.

THANK YOU!!

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: False Flag by Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson

Book Description

A murder in the Royal House of Saud, a secret alliance between two powerful rivals, and a race to upend the balance of power in the Middle East …

Lieutenant Keith “Chunk” Redman is no stranger to uncertainty. It’s what they train for in the Tier One. But when President Kelso Jarvis tells Gold Squadron the shocking news—that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has been murdered, the King is missing, and the House of Saud has framed two Mossad agents—it’s clear the Middle East has become a powder keg just waiting to explode.

To get to the bottom of it, Gold Squadron must split up: Chunk leading a team of Israeli operatives; sniper Saw taking the helm of Gold; while intel analyst Whitney Watts heads into the belly of the beast itself, the Royal Palace in Saudi Arabia, where she must risk her life to uncover the truth about the Crown Prince’s murder.

Meanwhile, unseen by any of them, new alliances are forming orchestrated by a VEVAK operative who spent decades working in deep cover to unsettle the balance of power. Soon it’s a race against time to find the truth, and stop a false flag operation that threatens the very existence of Israel itself.

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Elise’s Thoughts

False Flag, Sons of Valor Book IV by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson deliver another riveting thriller. This one is ripped from the headlines. They use their professional experience to write modern military thrillers that portray modern warfare in realistic scenarios. Andrews is a US Navy veteran, nuclear engineer, and former submarine officer, while Wilson served numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Navy combat surgeon, deploying with an east coast-based SEAL Team.

As with many of their books, readers see how high-stake missions use both military operatives and intelligence analysts to achieve successful missions. But the novels also show the loyalty, sacrifice, and bond that each Special Forces operators have for each other.

This plot takes off from page one when the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is brutally murdered by his power-hungry brother, Faisal, with the Israeli government becoming the prime suspect. The three sub-plots show how all the pieces are in play when, to get to the bottom of it, Gold Squadron must split up. Lieutenant Keith “Chunk” Redman leads a team of Israeli operatives, sniper Nick “Saw” Sawyer is enlisted to stop the Iranian missiles and intel analyst Whitney Watts, heads into the belly of the beast itself, the Royal Palace in Saudi Arabia, where she must risk her life to uncover the truth about the Crown Prince’s murder. The team must quickly uncover the truth before Iran achieves its goal of eliminating Israel and plunging the world into WWIII.

This is another powerful installment where it appears that Andrews and Wilson can predict the future. Readers will hold their breath as they turn each page.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Brian Andrews & Jeff Wilson: This is the fourth book in the series. We tend to write in a 3-book arc to open and close the plot. It was driven by what we set up in book 3 with the character evolution. We want the characters to have to make critical decisions. For the number of books in this arc we will let the characters push us to where it needs to be. There is room to grow with the current antagonists.

EC: You had to have a crystal ball considering the plot of this book. Do you agree?

BA/JW: We work very hard to follow geo-politics, especially as military veterans we tend to keep up with what is happening. We have been fascinated by decades of Iran’s seemingly unchecked ability to have “false flag” operations. We wanted to play it out. It is terrifying that

Iran has the money and connections to possibly make the scenarios we put in the book happen. It is not uncommon for us to push the world to the brink of war in our books.

EC: For me, there were three major similarities to real-world events and what happened in your story: the Abraham Accords that blew up because of Iran and its proxies, the Gazan tunnels, and the Iranian nukes. Do you agree?

BA/JW: Yes, the plot mirrors the real world. I do believe people would have to bury their head in the sand on purpose to not see all the overt fingerprints showing the connection between what is happening in Gaza, what is happening with Hamas, what is happening with Hezbollah, and the role of Iran in all of that. Someone would have to be willfully ignorant to not see the players are funded by Iran. We did not know when we started to write this book what would happen on October 7th, but it should not be a shock. These are terrorist states that have as their mantra wiping out Israel. The primary antagonist in this story is Iran. I think Hamas and Hezbollah would basically not exist without Iran. They do not have other partners with the weight, might, and money that Iran has. Our writing procedure is ‘what if’ and in this story the ‘what if’ pertains to the regime change in Saudi Arabia manipulated by Iran.

EC: Were there three subplots in the book: Whitney and the Saudis, the missiles, and the nukes to eliminate Israel?

BA/JW: Yes, I agree these were the three subplots. Each of the subplots is linked to a character evolution. Whitney in the last couple of books was left in a fragile state because she has been through a lot. She is trying to get back in the groove to be the brilliant analyst that she is. We wanted readers to appreciate the inherent danger of that job. In Special Operations these types of professionals are in harm’s way, and we wanted readers to appreciate that through Whitney, including the sacrifices and emotional injuries. Yet, we also want readers to see her rally and get back up like a good Navy SEAL would and continue. The DEA guy who was in multiple previous books was brought back to partner with her because Chunk is not there. Readers can see this dark side versus the more direct-action side that Chunk must deal with the missiles and the nuke threat.

EC: How would you describe the Saudi, Khalid?

BA/JW: He uses wealth, influence, and privilege. He is considered a moderate who works with the West. He is pragmatic and forward thinking. He probably does not love the West but is smart enough to know what is best for his people: to have global relationships that serve his nation and help to grow it economically. He possibly would have put his ideological views aside to do what is best for this country.

EC: How would you describe his brother, Faisal?

BA/JW: He is smug, wants to be thought of as powerful, controlling, arrogant, a liar, has contempt for women, and evil. He is manipulated by someone from his college days. He is agnostic politically until the right demon started to whisper in his ear, ‘what if.’ He only cares what is best for him, to seek power and prestige. He has a puppet master behind the scenes, and he is a weak person. This is played out in the real-world history.

EC: What about the Iranian, Reza?

BA/JW: He is confident, cautious, deliberate, wants to be a power player, and manipulative. He underestimates the American will that they will not have the stomach to play the long game and make the sacrifices necessary for the world peace. They underestimate Israel’s ability to do whatever is necessary to protect their country. In this story we combined a joint special operation task force between Israel and America that was an unstoppable force that the Iranians cannot compete with.

EC: How would you describe the Saudi Ambassador to the US, Princess Ramia?

BA/JW: Idealist, moderate, realist, thoughtful, and helpful. She is pragmatic and what drives her is how she cares for her country. Her decisions are based on what she truly believes is best for her country. She is a fun character. She has a lot of goodness and soul.

EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book?

BA/JW: The problem with Iran is that there is leadership there that is not interested in growing the wealth of their nation or their people. They are interested in an ideology they serve. In general, the Iranians are a patriotic, loving people. Those here in the US now refer to the country as Persia, not Iran, because they remember how it could have been. In most countries most of the people are not what is seen on the news. They love their country and want what’s best for it.

EC: Where are you going with the relationship between Whitney and Chunk?

BA/JW: They both have regrets. He has built a wall. She feels he has gone overboard with his ‘professionalism.’ It is dangerous for them to have a personal relationship, something they both want. Since we have worked in those communities, we want people to understand what that step would have for the unit, the team, and the national security. There probably could be some paths in which a relationship could be maneuvered where readers can possibly see it in future books or maybe not.

EC: You have a Ben Franklin quote that made me think of President Reagan’s doctrine, ‘Trust but Verify,’ and President Trump’s, ‘Peace through Strength.’ Do you agree he seems to be the first to use this philosophy?

BA/JW: You are referring to, “Believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see.” This is easy to discern. He has one click bumper sticker quotes. This was not an endorsement of Ben Franklin but having this quote as a header into the storyline, don’t always believe your eyes. This book had a false flag operation, so the quote fit perfectly.

EC: There is another Ben Franklin quote that I assume was because one of the team members dies?

BA/JW: That quote was, “Fear not death for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.” All our books are about honoring the sacrifice made by our service members and their families. This is reminiscent of some who we served with. This was put in to give a shout out to the personal and family sacrifices made by our warriors.

EC: Will there be a TV series/movie?

BA/JW: “Tier One” will be optioned by Legendary Television. We have the producers, a show runner, and a writer. This one is just about done. “Shepherds” is still in development for TV. Four Minutes is in development for a feature film. We have multiple projects under development for film and television with major motion picture studios and producers including Legendary Entertainment, PictureStart, Walden Media, Imagine Television, Sony, Fifth Season/Endeavor Content, Hutch Parker Entertainment, and Marc Evans Productions.

EC: Next books?

BA/JW: This year four books will or have come out. The fourth book in the “Shepherds series” came out in April, titled Dark Rising. The plot has the leader of the Dark Forces finally taken out, but the power vacuum is filled by a dark nefarious force who is kidnapping children in Haiti.

The “Tier One” book will be out in late fall, titled Adversary. It will continue the arc including the relationship between John Dempsey and his son Jake. The plot continues where the last book, Ember, left off. A Chinese agent was helping the terrorist organization al Qaeda that was responsible for the bombing that killed President Warner and the Indian Prime Minister. Richard Wang of the task force is kidnapped so it’s about trying to figure who took him and how to thwart the Chinese and the terrorists.

In December the third installment of the “Tom Clancy series” will be out titled Executive Power. Katie Ryan’s brother Kyle will be featured. Katie is an intelligence officer, Jack Ryan Jr is an operative, and Kyle is a Naval Academy graduate that does something technology driven. The plot setting is the West Coast of Africa where there is a coup and forces the President to make a choice between putting country first or family first. In this book the Marines are brought to front.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Defense Protocol (Tom Clancy) by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson

Book Description

For decades, Taiwan has been a thorn in the side of the Chinese government. An independent nation to the rest of the world, it is considered a rogue province by the PRC. Previous governments have tried to conquer the island using economic force and diplomatic pressure, but new Chinese President Li Jian Jun is done fooling around. He’s devised a secret military operation to take the island. Only one man knows how to stop Li’s mad and bloody plan for reunification and that’s Minister of Defense Qin Haiyu. Fearing for his life and the safety of his family, Qin covertly makes contact with the CIA in Beijing and signals his desire to defect to the West.
 
To get Qin out, John Clark creates an international task force reminiscent of Rainbow Six and goes undercover in mainland China. Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Katie Ryan is deployed to the tip of the spear on the destroyer USS Jason Dunham to defend Taiwan. Threatened by an encircling Chinese armada, she’s under pressure to find a flaw in the invaders’ plan for her father to exploit.
 
For his part, President Jack Ryan may have the power of the entire US military at his disposal, but what he really needs are Li’s secret plans from Defense Minister Qin so he can stave off a war. Because America’s Defense Protocol could lead to a game of mutual destruction that could cost the lives of thousands of young soldiers, sailors, special operators as well as his daughter.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Tom Clancy’s Defense Protocol by Andrews and Wilson brings to life the whole Clancy Universe.

The new Chinese President Li Jian Jun has devised a secret military operation to conquer Taiwan. Only one man knows how to stop Li’s mad and bloody plan for reunification and that’s Minister of Defense Qin Haiyu. Fearing for his life and the safety of his family, Qin covertly contacts the CIA in Beijing and signals his desire to defect to the West. To get Qin out, John Clark creates an international task force reminiscent of Rainbow Six and goes undercover in mainland China. Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Katie Ryan is deployed to the tip of the spear on the destroyer USS Jason Dunham to defend Taiwan. Threatened by an encircling Chinese armada, she’s under pressure to find a flaw in the invaders’ plan for her father to exploit. Both she, her dad, President Ryan, and the rest of the task force must come up with a plan to prevent WWIII.

This was as good as if Tom Clancy had written it himself with an intense plot and a lot of action.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson: After writing the last book, Act of Defiance, which was a submarine book with Russia as the antagonist, we decided to look somewhere else geopolitically. The biggest global geopolitical flashpoints that could turn into war or could shift the balance of global power was with Taiwan, one of those places that’s very high on the list. China has made no secret about their plans to take over Taiwan and have been talking about this for almost two decades. It’s not a matter of if they want to reunify Taiwan, it’s just a matter of when, and how they do it. We thought it would be right for fiction.

EC:  Does Chang have a major role in the book even though he died early in the story?

BA and JW: He was the Foreign Minister. In real life I kept seeing these articles about how these high-ranking important Chinese people would just disappear including billionaire civilians who maybe got a little too big for their britches and the Chinese would have them disappear. They would be off the radar with nobody knowing where they were. Those that do return have gone to reeducation camps. I just thought it’s amazing that this happens even with high-profile individuals. People that are known in politics, known on the world stage, and the Chinese are still doing it. We opened with it, which is basically if you want to play in the game and are not on board with what the Chinese President wants to do then you’re an enemy, and he’s going to get rid of you.

 EC: I’m wondering if you could explain that it seems China, more than Russia are devious, violent, they’re on the brink of wanting World War III?

 BA and JW: They’re always kind of challenging the United States and we wanted to get that point across in the book. The Chinese have what they call their 10-year plan which is part of their fifty-year plan so there’s five 10-year plans that make up their fifty-year plan. What we wanted to convey is that that the Chinese don’t think in terms of election cycles like the United States, and I think you’re spot on when you say that they’re more calculating and more disciplined than Russia because the Chinese think in terms of dynasties. Remember that’s their history: Chinese dynasties ruled the world until British naval power came on to the scene. We did a lot of research for this book just about Chinese history and mentality. They’re on the path to reclaim their destiny as the rightful rulers of the world and America is just in the way. They have been very methodical starting with commerce and manufacturing to get their toe in the door. First, making things for U.S. companies and then once U.S. companies started investing there, they develop trust. Now companies can’t own more than 49% of any business in China and if you want to do anything here you have to surrender your intellectual property. Then they send their people over to the US under the guise of researchers, students, and workers but most of them are spies to pillage intellectual property. They then use that to build up their military using all the money that American consumers spend on Chinese products. Now they have more ships in their Navy than we do. They clone our fighter jets, ships, submarines, and missiles because they’ve stolen all our technology. We wanted to show how they are the most formidable adversary that we face, willing to do one thing and say another because they’re very good at propaganda. Plus, they’re very good at managing their money and buy American T-bills so they can influence our currency.

EC:  Everyone seems to be speaking of Russian, but it seems that China is our real enemy-something you point out in this book.

BA and JW: They’re much more sophisticated than Russia, and much less impulsive than Russia. For the Chinese it’s an entire machine really devoted to unseating the US as the world power.

EC: How would you describe the US asset, the Spider?

BA and JW: She is a support asset for the CIA that uses only women to help and has a web of contacts. She gets political dissidents out and can appear cold and cruel.  But she’s a survivor and she’s like a spider. Her name is metaphorical but also accurate because she’s built a web in Beijing that allows her to use Cold War tactics and non-technology-based means and methods to do her job, moving information and people safely. It meant that she’s had to sacrifice certain things like having a family, so I think there probably is an element of stoicism to her. As part of her cover she runs a taxi company, hiring only women. Even though China is dominated by men she’s not going to get pushed around by being industrious and having survived the purge after so many other assets and spies were rounded up and murdered by the ministry of state security. She is stealthy, clever, and hard to catch.

EC:  You also point out the importance of Taiwan-why?

 BA and JW: Taiwan is 100 miles away from their coast. China has multiple bases along the eastern edge right across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan. It would take minutes for their missiles to fly and hit Taiwan and take them over. Everyone knows that Taiwan alone cannot mount an effective defense against a full-scale invasion by the Chinese. I think because 90% of the world’s complex semiconductors are manufactured in Taiwan with so much global commerce running in, around, and through Taiwan that the world would balk. So, what we imagined is that Chinese president would say “to diminish the political damage from taking over Taiwan what we need to do is spin this so that our actions are justified, claiming that it wasn’t us being the aggressor.” Basically, using a false flag operation to provide the justification for the invasion of Taiwan.

EC:  Was the role of Katie more of a supporting character?

BA and JW: We did have her anticipate the adversary response and how she helped get the Spider and Defense Minister by out maneuvering President Li. She didn’t wilt under pressure, and she was confident. We wrote her to be the primary protagonist, but this is a Jack Ryan series. Due to the complexity of this book and all the moving chess pieces that we wanted to show on the board, everybody got a little less airtime. There’s lots of other players in the Jack Ryan universe and we wanted to have the whole crew.

EC: You never write her as a superhero, agree?

BA and JW: We want to be authentic, so we don’t want Katie Ryan to be like a marvel superhero where she shows up as the smartest and fastest, able to do flips, beat people up, and knows how to fly planes, basically a one-woman wrecking crew when she’s an analyst who works for the office of naval intelligence. Although she did take a lot of initiative, putting a lot of effort into trying to do as much as she could to figure out what was going on and helping to deescalate the situation by finding a solution.

EC: Why the Battleship game?

BA and JW: The Battleship game is a metaphor for the story itself. Katie and her dad both are analysts, both strategic, playing this game of ships where they can’t see what the other side is doing, can’t see where their ships are. It really was a metaphor for the book, not just the game but also father and daughter playing together, having quality time. One of the things we had happened is that Katie won to foreshadow this idea that she’s the next generation of Ryan, who my gosh maybe she’s just as smart as her dad and or maybe she’s even smarter and she can do the same type of job that he does. Also just giving them some father daughter time to show that they have a very healthy and close relationship.

EC:  Next books?

BA and JW: Out in April is the fourth book in our Shepherds Series, titled Dark Rising. There’s been a bit of a hiatus on Shepherds because we changed publishers and because we started writing the Clancy series, so we had to take a little break. It will now be published by Blackstone. Plus, the showrunner for the Shepherds is developing it for television. It has a faith-based component The plot has these kids called the watchers who have a spiritual gift that allows them basically to sort of predict and maybe see through visions like when bad stuff is going to happen and so they get an idea of something going to happen and tell the shepherds which are a bunch of former military special OPS guys. There is an interesting alliance between adolescents and operators where the operators can’t do their job without the watchers but the watchers can’t protect themselves without the shepherds and so you have this interesting alliance of kids and adults trying to stop evil in the world. The specific plot of the next book has terrorists dealing with the Chinese and Russians surrounding a sex trafficking ring. The hero iJedediah Johnson goes on vacation to the Dominican Republic and when he’s there he stops a kidnapping. What he starts to realize is that all these kids are being kidnapped there and taken to other places.

The book Four Minutes has the task force getting intel from technology and the Shepherd Series is getting intel from the spiritual. It is under development with a producer named Mark Evans. Netflix is developing this for film and so we sort of feel like we should wait and see where it goes. We’d like the movie and book to sort of be compatible and if the film goes off like in a big different direction, we need to be able to kind of know that before we write the sequel. 100% we’re going to write the sequel, but we’d like to get at least the first screenplay finished so we know what’s going to happen and then we can start on the next book.

In July will be the next Sons of Valor book, False Flag. The plot has the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia murdered, and the blame is pointed at Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence. The company goes to the Middle East to help figure out who killed the Crown Prince and obviously the title of the book sort of gives away it away.

In October the next Tier One book comes out. It doesn’t have a title yet, but the plot continues where the last book, Ember left off. A Chinese agent was helping the terrorist organization al Qaeda that was responsible for the bombing that killed President Warner and the Indian Prime Minister. Richard Wang of the task force is kidnapped so it’s about trying to figure who took him and how to thwart the Chinese and the terrorists.

The next Clancy book comes out December, maybe a little less Kate because her brother Kyle is going to make his appearance in the series. She’s got this twin brother Kyle. We’re working on it now.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Ember by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson

Book Description

After surviving the most dangerous mission of his career, John Dempsey is back at Ember. But Ember has changed—and so has he. Meanwhile, a new adversary sees an opportunity to rise. As Dempsey and Vice President Jarvis soon discover, the world stage is about to get deadlier than ever …

To survive the notorious prison IK-2 and assassinate Russian President Vladimir Petrov, John Dempsey had to become rosomakha, the wolverine. Now, back home in America, he’s trying to put the pieces of his life at Ember back together. But which man returned from Russia—Dempsey, or the wolverine? From the way his teammates look at him, it’s obvious they’re not sure, and neither is he.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kelso Jarvis has barely had time to mourn the death of his mentor before a devastating attack reveals a new threat. Because of Dempsey’s mission in Russia, the rules of the game have changed—only now it’s not clear who the players are. As Dempsey leads Ember on a mission to protect and avenge a shocking attack on America, Jarvis’s oath to his nation is tested in ways he never imagined. Together, they must determine who is behind this rising threat and stop the mastermind before it’s too late.

And just as Dempsey begins to feel like himself again, an old ally resurfaces—someone he thought he’d left for dead long ago …

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Ember by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson has Dempsey returning home to the US. After Dempsey’s mission in Russia, the rules of the game have changed. He leads Ember on a mission to protect and avenge a shocking attack on Americans, where Jarvis’s oath to his nation is tested in ways he never imagined. Together, they must determine who is behind this rising threat and stop the mastermind before it’s too late. There will also be a return of a character long thought dead, one who has a complicated past with Dempsey.

If readers want to understand what is going on in the world with nation versus nation, more like a chess game with a lot of action this is the series to read. The characters are acting on their own values and are principled based. 

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What about a movie/TV/streaming deal?

Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson: There are half dozen projects under development and hopefully announcements will be forth coming in the next six months. The “Tier One series” and “The Four Minutes series” are being developed along with a faith-based series we write and some short stories. “Sons of Valor” is not being developed because it slightly competes with the “Tier One series.”

EC: Is this book the first in the arc, setting up future books?

BA & JW: Yes. What the Chinese have done to the US have been damaging: hacking the infrastructure, stealing secrets, and interfering with trade/monetary policies. We want to show how they are more of a complicated enemy. Our first trilogy had Iran as the enemy, the second trilogy-plus had Russia as the enemy, and now this third trilogy will have China, Ember’s most difficult challenge they have faced.

EC:  What is the Dempsey factor you talk about in this book?

BA & JW:  It is mission before self. The idea that adding Dempsey to the team has the success rate go up disproportionally. He is so good at his job that he is worth two or three operators on the team. His philosophy is about the enemy trying to take another chess piece off the board.

EC:  Can you discuss the different ethos in the book?

BA & JW:  Dempsey has a SEAL’s heart and a warriors’ mind. The politician’s ethos is not the warrior’s ethos that says team before self. Jarvis is conflicted about the warrior ethos versus the politician ethos.

EC:  Why did you put in that first scene in the book?

BA & JW:  The opening scene of Ember was pulled directly from Crusader One. The scene in the Iranian Bazaar was from Dempsey’s point of view in Crusader one.  Now readers get to see it through Elinor’s eyes. He has a lot of guilt about leaving her behind for 2.5 years.

EC:  Did Dempsey have PTSD in this book with his nightmares?

BA & JW:  I think it is impossible for a warrior to do the type of jobs he does without having emotional repercussions. The nightmares signals to the readers he is still grappling with his morals and humanity. We give mixed signals because there is a scene in the book where he focuses on his job.  His team is not sure if he is suffering from PTS or is he OK?

EC:  Why did you highlight Jake, Dempsey’s son, in the story?

BA & JW:  He is following in his dad’s footsteps to become a SEAL. We have big plans for him.  Someday he will be reunited with his dad.  I will not say how and when it will happen.

EC:  Why a new female, Wallace, on the team?

BA & JW:  We changed the chemistry of the Ember team. Grimes is jealous of her since she was accepted outright and a completely different personality: upbeat and cool. Grimes worked so hard to be accepted and now she sees Wallace is easily accepted by the guys.  She feels, ‘are you kidding me, come on.’ Grimes broke the glass ceiling and Wallace comes in to clean it all up.  It is so unfair for her.

EC:  Where are you going with the Grimes/Munn relationship?

BA & JW:  Munn and Grimes have feelings for each other and are drawn together. It could happen.  But they must be wary of temptation, because what happens if it does not work out? Will it affect the team and the professionalism?  How they handle it will be a part of the series going forward.

EC: What about your next books?

BA & JW:  The second book in the “Tier One” next trilogy will continue with the Chinese operative as the villain. No title yet. It will probably come out fall 2025. Lieutenant Commander Keith “Chunk” Redman will make an appearance.

Sons of Valor IV will be a transitional book to the next trilogy in the series. We do not want to ignore the recent everts of October 7th so we will be writing a story with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. It will be out next summer. There will be a lot of Petra and Jarvis.

The Clancy book has Katie Ryan back.  The setting is the South China Sea with high stakes involving Taiwan and China. The title is Defense Protocol coming out in early December.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Special Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Tier One Series Books #1 – #7 by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson

Elise’s Thoughts

The “Tier One” series plots written by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson will remind readers of the late Vince Flynn. They are better than the books written after various authors took over the writing when Vince Flynn died.  Thriller fans get an explosive thrill ride that starts with page one of book one and doesn’t let up for the duration.  But readers will get much more, including relevant geo-political issues that make it appear these authors have a crystal ball. Below is an interview with Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson about their first seven books. They use their vast experience to write engrossing thrillers with enemies from Iran to Russia to China. Andrews worked as a nuclear engineer on naval submarines, while Wilson was a trauma surgeon embedded with the East Coast Navy SEALS. Book eight, Ember, will appear in a separate Q & A.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  What would you say is the style of this series?

Brian Andrews & Jeff Wilson: There are three book arcs where each book has its own bad guy, but the main bad guy gets their due in the third book. Because the antagonist narrative is extended over the course of the trilogy, readers get to know them. In reality this series everything has shades of grey concerning policy, morality, Special Operations, and how the characters emotionally handle their actions.

EC: How would you describe each of the following characters over the course of all the books in the series?

BA & JW: EMBER, the organization, is autonomous with analysts, field operatives, surveillance, and collecting intelligence.  They are deep cover with speed, stealth, and efficiency.

John DEMPSEY: A former SEAL, believes in serving his country, and is adaptable. He is a mission before self-type of guy who puts his country first.  He can be quite emotional, which defines his humanity. He is always questioning if he is doing the right thing for the right reason instead of just following orders. He is the Operations Director.

Kelso JARVIS: He heads the Ember team. He is the most complicated character. He has always been a chameleon to get the job done. He is a little bit Machiavellian where the ends justify the means. He is driven by a recognition of his own mortality because of his disease and being married to Petra. Sometimes overconfident, observant, clever, and a man of action. At times he expected members of the team to betray their peers and teammates. He is willing to make judgements about what his team can or cannot handle. He makes decisions for the team. He withholds because it is in the best interest of their operational effectiveness, the end goal. He has evolved the most of all the characters, because he is more introspective and empathetic.

PETRA FELSK: She is Jarvis’s right-hand person, a former intelligence expert.  Someone he can confide in and trust completely. She can read Jarvis’ mind and complements him. She admires his qualities. She is not afraid to challenge him and call him out.

Elizabeth GRIMES: Sniper operator. In the beginning she had trust issues and feels isolated.  Lizzie is perceptive, loyal, questioning, connects the dots, needs to be in control, and sarcastic. She is our devil’s advocate character, someone not afraid to argue the other side, an outside the box thinker. She now sees Dempsey as brother-like and he sees her as sister-like. But she sometimes becomes the big sister to him.

Dan MUNN: He is the SEAL medic who now works for Ember but is also an operator.  Dan was a teammate of Dempsey when a SEAL.  He is his good friend and knows how to push his buttons. 

Levi HAREL:  The Mossad chief.  He is perceptive, wise, and a true ally of the US. He looks beyond politics, a pragmatist and a tactician. He is a mentor to Jarvis.

Richard WANG:  He is the team’s cyber guy in the field. Insecure, egotistical, and a genius. He wants the team’s respect, defaulting to humor and self-deprecation.

Ian BALDWIN:  He is the head of Ember’s signals division: electronic, communications, and intelligence. He handles the different ways data is intercepted, collected, and interpreted. He is an enigma.  He is like the AI of the team. Ian is the eccentric uncle no one knows how to talk to.  

BAD GUYS:  They match Dempsey in skill, tactical, and survival.  They are formidable foes.

EC:  In the first book, TIER ONE, Navy SEAL Jack Kemper had to give up everything including his family to take on the persona of John Dempsey, working for a covert organization that operates without any bureaucratic red tape and operates in the shadows. Did the Tier One book set up the premise for the rest of the books in the series?

BA & JW: Back in 2015 when we started to write this series, we realized that America’s enemies were being constantly defeated by the Navy SEALS because they are so good at what they do. We thought about the ‘what if’ the enemies tried to neuter the Special Operations arm of the US military service, wiping out the entire Tier One Navy SEALs. We fictionalized it by making Tier One smaller than in real life and had all the squads on the same mission to get the high-value terrorist targets, which we did in the first book. For us, the premise was quite intriguing as the enemy upped their game in covert actions.

EC: It seems you always have a relevant piece to your plot.  Were you influenced by what happened in Afghanistan when a military helicopter was shot down, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden?

BA & JW: This is a perfect example of what we tried to show in this first book.  The Taliban knew how the SEALs moved. In the first book, Tier One, we tried to show how the enemy is gaining in sophistication and should not be underestimated.

EC: In book two, WAR SHADOWS, there is a very relevant quote, “Making decisions requires courage.  Without courage leadership cannot exist. Without leadership the bad guys win every time.” Please explain.

BA & JW: This is a theme throughout all our series.  Leadership matters. Look at the leadership in this country and there are serious problems.  I was taught people need to lead by example, having integrity and accountability. They should own mistakes and tell how they will fix it. Instead, they gaslight. We are trying to imagine a world of military leaders and politicians that we want to see in real life, making decisions based on principles. They should not be self-serving and go along with the political winds. Dempsey and Jarvis stand up for what they think is morally right.

EC: In book three, CRUSADER ONE, there is a terrorist attack where Israel is caught off guard and people question the readiness, security, and how to protect.  Even though this was written way before October 7th, it exemplifies it. Please explain.

BA & JW: We employed Iran, Iron Dome, and multiple groups attacking at the same time. Hamas and Hezbollah were amassing weapons and digging tunnels, so we put it in the story.

EC:  Elinor Jordan is introduced.  Can you describe her?

BA & JW: She is like a female Dempsey and are kindred spirits.  They have feelings for each other, sometimes trusting each other and sometimes they don’t. She has a schizophrenic existence, sensitive, caring, courageous, conflicted, and wants to make the world a better place. We wrote her as a Persian Jew working for Mossad.  Yet, in the research we found that this community of Persian Jews are not considered by the Iranians as mortal enemies.

EC: The focus of book four, AMERICAN OPERATOR, has Dempsey rescuing an American hostage being held by the Jihadists terrorists. Please explain.

BA & JW: Dempsey rescues US State Department aid Amanda Allen and is willing to do anything to get her out because he has so much guilt over leaving Elinor behind. We wanted to represent the hostage mindset with Amanda: fearful, tough, capable, courageous, observer, and wondering if she should fight.  She tried to figure out how she was going to survive but not betray her countrymen. She was tortured and was in a no-win situation trying to maintain her dignity, wits, and hope.

EC: In book five, RED SPECTER, did you focus on the Russian covert organization, Zeta?

BA & JW: It is the Russian version of Ember. Arkady is the Russian Jarvis who is brilliant, cunning, devious, a spymaster, strategic, powerful, and likes to play the long game. Both Arkday and Jarvis are willing to sacrifice their people for what they perceive of the greater good.  Jarvis sacrificed Grimes emotionally and had Dempsey go on what was perceived as a suicide mission. This book is a reckoning of the escalation.

EC:  Book six, COLLATERAL, has the rubber meeting the road.  Do you agree?

BA & JW: We intended to end the Russian arc with this book but did not because there is a lot more story to tell. We had the US President designate Ember to go after every Zeta operative and eliminate them. We wanted to write it as the new Cold War including Russia infiltrating the Ukraine.

EC:  Is book seven, DEMPSEY, a vengeance book?

BA & JW: The mission is more complicated than that.  The book has a Russian contracting an American to kill his own leader. Enemies make strange bed fellows, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend until dead.  We wanted Dempsey to deep dive into understanding his Russian enemy by living among them. This will change his entire approach to how he sees the world. Truth is relative and strength is what is important. The Russian President, Petrov, is a war criminal, murderer, psychopath, malicious, and paranoid, the ultimate dictator based on Putin.

EC:  Why the two Russian words for truth istina versus pravda?

BA & JW: One means relative truth and one absolute truth.  Americans believed there is one truth, and it is verifiable. In Russia the absolute truth is like mathematics and is provable.  Now in America truth is what someone believes, which is relative truth. The question we want readers to ponder, is foreign assassination acceptable if that leader does really bad things, like Hitler? The question we pose is assassination of a foreign leader sometimes necessary for our own well-being, security, safety, and the existential threat? We are not suggesting that assassination is OK but just posing the questions.

EC: Readers that want adrenaline-fueled thrillers with a lot of action, deception and vengeance should read these books, preferably in order.

For book eight, EMBER, the one coming out this month, see the new Q & A.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Four Minutes and Act of Defiance (Tom Clancy) by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson

Book Descriptions and Elise’s Thoughts

Four Minutes by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson is a new techno-thriller series.  It is different than most futuristic novels in that it does not alter the timeline completely as in the first Superman movie when Lois Lane lived instead of died.

The premise allows for intelligence gathering in the future to be used in the present to prevent an event from happening. Pat Moody leads a new elite squad, Task Force Omega to jump into the future for a short period of time, four minutes.

Another of their books is a Tom Clancy novel, Act of Defiance, to be published in May. It is a sequel of sorts to The Hunt for Red October. Instead of Jack Ryan trying to stop a Russian rogue submarine, it is daughter Katie who must put the pieces together. 

As with all their series, Andrews and Wilson never seem to disappoint their readers.  The plots are riveting and action-packed with premises that are mind boggling. Suspense is ratcheted up and the characters are compelling.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for Four Minutes?

Brian Andrews/Jeffrey Wilson: It will probably be a limited series but is open ended right now. We like our stories to start with these ‘what if’ questions. Both of us have backgrounds with the military and other government services. What if someone had a crystal ball to look into the future that can say what can happen?  For example, what if days beforehand people knew about 9/11?  Then we tied it to the cover Special Forces grounded in real math and physics. We did not want it to be a sci-fi book but rather a techno-thriller.

EC:  What about the premise?

BA/JW: If someone could look forward and anticipate consequences then in the present it is possible to act. It is about gaining intelligence and coming back to the present to stop the event. They do not get a do over and do not know if the mission will really work. This technology could be invented soon. The questions we want to ask: can there be technology that goes into the near future; if so, how could someone manipulate it; what would the limits be?  We put these limits where the team could go into the future 28 days and only stay for four minutes. They must use that information in the present to solve the problem.

EC:  What did you mean by the book quote, “everyone wants to see us fail?”

BA/JW: It was not meant to target a real-world administration or political organization. Yet, the powers external to the US: China, Russia, and Iran, want to see us fail.  They want to tear us down piece by piece, trying to destroy us from within, and trying to destroy us from outside. America needs to be united because when we are divided, we are weak, and our enemies realize it. They cannot beat us in the Cold War, economically, and militarily so they are trying philosophically and politically.

EC:  How would you describe Moody?

BA/JW:  Confident, charming, smooth, secretive, and the rest of the team do not trust him. When we first started writing him, we were not sure if he was a bad guy or good guy. He is apologetic for lying to his team, but not when it will help them complete the mission, safeguarding the country. He sees the need to make compromises and hard choices.

EC:  Is this where your personal experiences come in?

BA/JW:  Yes.  This is what it is like when in command.  Some people must put themselves in danger. Brian says, for instance, as a submarine officer, I had to wear a radiation monitor. This team is making a big physical sacrifice. Our combined military service is what drives the engine of a lot of our work including the missions.

EC: Can you describe each member of the team starting with Tyler?

BA/JW: Man of action, direct, and intuitive. He embodies the Special Operations officer being dedicated and committed. He is a natural leader and motivator. He is like Dempsey in our “Tier One series.”  He has courage, honor, and integrity.

EC:  Zee?

BA/JW: She is a perfectionist and takes her intelligence analyst role very seriously. She feels as an outsider.  Moody wants her to be a “spy.”  She immediately tells Tyler because she wants to be a part of the team, not considered an outsider.  Zee is the moral compass, the emotional glue, to keep the team grounded and not dysfunctional.

EC:  Ben, Martin, Stan, and Adela?

BA/JW:  We wanted to create a colorful cast. They are all dynamic.  Stan is the fact checker and the researcher. Ben is the optimist.  Adela is the Devil’s Advocate.

EC:  Not harping on the math and physics but what is Spooky Time?

BA/JW:  Conservation of time. When the team jumps the present is still moving by four minutes.  When they return from their jump, they will always return to the present four minutes after they left. But what if they jumped two minutes into the future?  The present would have moved by four minutes. We put in the Einstein quote, “The past, present, and future is an illusion.”  There is a diagram in the book that explains it.    

EC:  You are now writing Tom Clancy novels so can you talk a little about your premise in Act of Defiance? This book was “Clancyesque.”

BA/JW: This, our first installment in the Clancy Universe come on the 40th Anniversary of The Hunt for Red October. We feel Tom Clancy invented the techno-thriller genre with that book. We are updating this story with the new technology and the new warriors.

EC: Were you able to use “real life” military technology?

BA/JW: The navy gave us unprecedented access to the modern submarine force. We were able to go on the USS Indiana, a Virginia class submarine, and toured the Black Fish. We were able to see what a day is like for this current submarine officer. We are indebted to the navy and the admiral in charge of the submarine force. The US Navy should have been listed as a co-author since they supported this project.

EC: Do you agree that the Russian submarine captain, Ramius, would not have been able to disappear today considering social media and drones?

BA/JW: We agree completely.  This is why we went in another direction.  Konstantin, the new Russian submarine captain, has motivations completely different and far more dangerous.

EC:  You included that very famous scene, getting Jack Ryan on the submarine, only this time it was his daughter Katie. Please explain.

BA/JW: This scene was not in the book but was in the movie. We wanted to play homage to the book and the movie by picking out some key, super cool incidents that we wanted to replicate in this story. This was an iconic scene in the film. We used a tightrope to put just enough of the nostalgia without alienating people who never read the book or saw the movie.

EC:  How would you describe Katie, the female Jack Ryan?

BA/JW: This series has two dozen books.  She is an original character, but readers do not know much about her.  We can build up her character. Katie is sensitive, confident, thoughtful, analytical, and she has studied Konstantin just as her father studied Ramius in the first book.  She is literally Jack Ryan’s DNA because she is his daughter, very similar to her dad.  Yet, she does not see it. Just like the hilarious commercial that says, ‘you turned into your parents.’

EC:  How would you describe Konstantin?

BA/JW: A warrior, stoic, unyielding, motivated, tenacious, and is a Russian patriot who hates America. He is also an angry guy and bitter about his father’s past, his wife’s illness, and his own disease. He is seeking vengeance and is self-destructive.

EC:  Next book?

BA/JW:  The next Four Minutes Book is dependent on the screenplay because it is optioned for television or the movies. Since the first book is left with a cliffhanger our intention is to figure out what happens to Moody and some of the other characters.     

The next Clancy book is titled, Defense Protocol, coming out in November/December of this year. The plot has a what if with China making moves on Taiwan.  Katie is trying to prevent having American and China in a shooting war.

The next “Tier One” book is titled Ember, coming out in July of next year.  John Dempsey is back with his team. But the team must handle another new threat.  There will be more of the team dynamics.

Sons Of Valor IV will come out in summer of 2025.  It has not been written yet.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.