Derek Almer Series
Derek Almer faces challenges common to second decade of the 21st Century. He hunts terrorists; puts drug dealers out of business; and holds corrupt officials in the U.S. government and industry accountable.
Derek Almer is the main character in an action-packed series of four espionage/counterterrorism thrillers with plots based on realistic, real-world scenarios. There are seven reasons why this series should interest those who read this genre.
Reason one is that the hero is a helicopter pilot, not a fighter pilot. In other novels of this genre, the main character is often fighter pilot in action at high speeds and high altitudes. Unless he is in a dogfight, the fighter pilot rarely sees his enemy. Scenes in the Derek Almer books put readers in the cockpit of a helicopter where one can see the face of men who are shooting at you and the muzzle flashes of their guns!
Number two is that the use of equipment is realistic and accurate. In the scenes in which airplanes and helicopters are “flown,” they are operated within their limits and the characters often have to deal with less than perfect equipment.
The third reason is that the characters are different and interesting. For example, in FAILURE TO FIRE, Fatimah Serraf comes from a traditional Saudi family and refuses to be married in an arranged wedding that benefits her family. Fatimah has a dark side in the bedroom and her success making money for high net-worth individuals leads her to becoming the de-facto investment banker for al Qaeda.
After leaving the Navy, Derek Almer stays in the Naval Reserve and is employed as a contract pilot with the CIA. From operations in the CIA, he developed ties to the Mossad and operates in the Arab world.
Reason four that readers will like the Derek Almer series is that the plot for each book is placed in the proper historical context. The series begins in 2015 so the background is recent history and enables the reader to identify with events he or she witnessed.
By telling the story from both sides, readers meet the protagonists and antagonists along with the supporting cast and learn what drives them. This is reason five.
Reason number six is the titles should draw the reader to read the blurb on the back and even buy the book. For example, the word “Pawnee” in the Flight of the Pawnee’s title is not a reference to the Indian tribe, but to an agricultural airplane built by Piper Aircraft that names the models of its airplanes after Indian tribes. he plane has a major role in the plot. On its own merits, The Assam’ Draggin’ should generate interest.
Number seven is that within a month after being released, Flight of the Pawnee was an Amazon #1 Best Seller.
Even though it is a series, each book is a discrete, stand-alone novel and the books don’t have to be read in sequence. Flight of the Pawnee and Failure to Fire are already out. Here are the other two. The plots of these may change as they are written.
The Assam Draggin’
Derek Almer’s company, Camelot, Inc. wins a contract in 2017 to provide pilots and helicopters to fly logistics missions for the Afghan government, Army and the International Security Assistance Force. Almer is faced with a corrupt contracting officer who wants Camelot out of the country so he can continue to enrich himself with payoffs from tribal leaders who sell opium and the Taliban.
Strawberry 9
In 2018, A C-130 operated by Camelot, Inc. carrying $50M in cash is hijacked. Derek suspects a competitor with the help of a corrupt DEA officer is behind the hijacking. The chase leads him first to Afghanistan where he discovers the hijackers have ties to the DEA and the Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel. The Los Zetas view the cash as theirs because it was seized by the DEA in a raid in the U.S. They plan to raid a DEA warehouse in at the old Navy base in Beeville Texas where the remaining $100 million is stored.
After the Korean War ended, his father left the Active duty Air Force and joined the Vermont Air National Guard as a full time Guardsman. Derek was born in Burlington, VT and was a collegiate ski racer at Norwich University in Northfield, VT. He was good enough to be considered for the U.S. Olympic team, but a broken leg in his senior year of college ended his dreams for winning an Olympic medal. The break almost ended his chances of qualifying for Navy flight training.
While at Norwich, he heard retired Rear Admiral Josh Haman speak several times and decided that he wanted to fly special operations and combat search and rescue missions. To do so, he volunteered to fly helicopters.
Derek married right after he earned his wings, but the marriage to Adrian ended in three years. The experience made him gunshy about engaging in a deep relationship with a woman. On his third tour in Afghanistan and near the end of his service obligation, a senior Army officer didn’t want Derek to pick up a SEAL team because of the weather. Because the team was being chased by the Taliban, Derek ignored the Army colonel’s wishes took off from Bagram Air Force Base. Had he not gone when he did, the SEAL team would have been overrun by the Taliban and either killed or captured. Despite the success, the Army colonel tried to screw Derek to cover his ass.
Right after the rescue, a CIA officer asks Derek if he wants to be a contract pilot for the agency. The CIA officer had seen Derek in action and believes he could be an asset to the CIA. The agreement that he signed allows him to stay in the Naval Reserve. After his release from active duty, Derek buys a small ranch in a town called Ivanhoe which is 120 north, north east of Dallas.
Derek is 5’ 11”, 170 and looks like an athlete. He has close cropped blonde air. Like his “idol” Josh Haman, Derek is a maverick and an innovative thinker who hates those with political agendas. With him, one’s position is binary, either one is part of the solution or part of the problem.