When former Secretary of Defense Chandler “Stonewall” Kean is found dead on his ranch in New Mexico, Ring Zero, the Pentagon’s new top-secret spy agency, sends two of its agents to investigate. Only Stonewall’s head is found, with a mysterious brand burned into his forehead and a domino stuffed into his mouth. There is no sign of his body. How could anyone have gotten close enough to such a heavily guarded, high-profile person to kill him, behead him, and dispose of his body, completely undetected? And what was the motive—personal or political? The Ring Zero agents assigned to the case are cryptanalyst Achilles Smith and field agent Perly Lyman. As they follow the thread of the murder to its source, they inadvertently uncover a network of international intrigue involving some of the most powerful people in the world.

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There's a lot going on in this book between the U.S. and Russian secret services, especially the Russian SVR and a secret Pentagon agency called Ring Zero. I spent seven years writing it, and wouldn't you know, the week it's published a spy scandal breaks involving the SVR. Good timing or bad? Guess I'll find out. I think, good. I have a character named Galina who could have been Anna Chapman in terms of looks and physique; but Galina is more modest and reserved than Anna. Galina would never post sexy pictures of herself on Facebook, for instance. Nonetheless, it might be fun for readers to look for similarities. Galina is based loosely on a real Russian of my acquaintance.