• Complain

Jeffrey S Stephens - Targets of Opportunity

Here you can read online Jeffrey S Stephens - Targets of Opportunity full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 2011, publisher: Gallery Books, genre: Detective and thriller. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:

Romance novel Science fiction Adventure Detective Science History Home and family Prose Art Politics Computer Non-fiction Religion Business Children Humor

Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.

Jeffrey S Stephens Targets of Opportunity

Targets of Opportunity: summary, description and annotation

We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Targets of Opportunity" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.

THE ENEMY HAS A THOUSAND WAYS TO STRIKE. WE HAVE JUST ONE WAY TO RETALIATE. HIS NAME IS JORDAN SANDOR. In Targets of Deception, which suspense master Robert K. Tanenbaum called a fast-paced thriller, Jeffrey Stephens introduced CIA agent Jordan Sandor, whom bestselling author Steve Alten praised as terrific. Now Sandor is back, playing for bigger stakes and facing deadlier challenges. Whisked from his Manhattan town house to a gabled CIA safe house in Virginia, Sandor faces off with a top terrorist agent from Irans Revolutionary Guard. In exchange for protection from his own side, Ahmad Jaber is offering the CIA explosive information: word of a secret, unholy alliance forged among operatives in the Middle East, a ruthless South American, and Kim Jong-Ils North Korea. Jaber claims not to know specific details, only that the strike will target the heart of America. The fanatics stage a stunning diversion in the Caribbean, mercilessly downing a passenger jet and unleashing an assault on a French intelligence installation. Sandor, however, has already moved in a different direction. Leveraging Jabers infor-mation, he assembles a small strike force to penetrate North Korea. The team knows they will not all return, but the intel they gather will be vital to American security. What they ultimately discover plunges Sandor into a frantic race against time, struggling to defeat a shadowy figurea master terrorist with a plan of destruction so perfectly disguised that even with the new knowledge he has gathered, Sandor cannot guess where or how he will strike. As a storm rages in the Gulf of Mexico, word comes that two submarines have penetrated U.S. waters. With the U.S. military hampered by the hurricane, Sandor turns to a few daring U.S. Navy SEALs to duel with the enemy they cannot see . . . for now they know only that there are two nuclear weapons aimed at a target of opportunity whose destruction would change the world order forever. Brilliantly conceived, electrifyingly paced, Targets of Opportunity captures a terrifying twenty-first century reality: terrorists canand willtry as many times as they need to attack the United States. For the brave men and women who defend our country, failure is not an option.

Jeffrey S Stephens: author's other books


Who wrote Targets of Opportunity? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.

Targets of Opportunity — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Targets of Opportunity" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

Reset

Interval:

Bookmark:

Make

Targets of Opportunity - photo 1

Gallery B - photo 2

Gallery Books A Division of Simon Schuster Inc 1230 Avenue of the Americas - photo 3

Gallery Books A Division of Simon Schuster Inc 1230 Avenue of the Americas - photo 4

Gallery Books A Division of Simon Schuster Inc 1230 Avenue of the Americas - photo 5

Picture 6

Gallery Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2011 by Jeffrey S. Stephens

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Gallery Books hardcover edition August 2011

GALLERY BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com .

Designed by Kyoko Watanabe

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stephens, Jeffrey S.

Targets of opportunity / Jeffrey S. Stephens. 1st Gallery Books hardcover ed.

p. cm.

1. Intelligence officersUnited StatesFiction. 2. DefectorsFiction. 3. AlliancesFiction. 4. TerroristsFiction. 5. TerrorismFiction. I. Title.

PS3619.T47676T37 2011

813'.6dc22

2011020668

ISBN 978-1-4516-2432-8
ISBN 978-1-4516-2433-5 (ebook)

for Hoccos, who never left a man behind

Contents

PROLOGUE


PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA


O N THE EIGHTH floor of a nondescript office building overlooking the harbor in Pyongyang, two men faced off across a small table. Hwang Hyun-Su, host of the meeting, was one of Kim Jong-Ils most trusted advisors. His guest from South America was only identified to him as Adina.

The Great Leader maintained a strict need-to-know policy, even among his closest and most prominent associates. All that was required was for Kims deputy to attend this meeting, hear what the man had to say and report back.

The view from the austere conference room offered a revealing portrait of North Koreas industrial dilemma: the warehousing and docks, with their antiquated equipment and vessels, appeared largely desertedthe port was far too quiet to comport with Kims claim of national prosperity. In sum, the harbor evinced all the activity of a New Hampshire lake in January.

Nevertheless, Hwang pointed to the port with pride, claiming it was proof of Kims true genius.

Responding without irony or sarcasm, the Latin man said, We very much respect the spectacular growth of your economy, then waited for his hosts interpreter to explain his statement. If we are to make progress in these discussions, however, we must be candid about your dependence on foreign sources of oil.

Hwang stared at his guest. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is an independent nation. We are not reliant on any other government.

The man called Adina could not resist a thin smile. I am well versed in your Great Leaders Juche ideology, his commitment to total autonomy, and the impressive strides he has made to ensure the success and the security of your beloved nation.

Hwang nodded his approval as the statement was translated.

But sir, the DPRK consumes more than thirty-five thousand barrels of oil every day, an extremely conservative estimate based on a damaged economy. Even at those numbers, your country produces less than two percent of its requirements. If that is not dependence, what is? The Asian winced slightly. If you are uncomfortable with the word dependence, then perhaps we should speak of cooperation.

Cooperation with whom? We already have friends who help us to meet our needs.

Ah, yes. But your so-called friends engage in wars with the imperialists of the West, then withhold production of oil and intentionally cause the price of crude to skyrocket. What sort of friends will they be when the cost has doubled again? Who will offer you protection?

Hwang sat silent.

The Korean Peoples Army you have assembled cannot rely on the promises of those who are consumed with their own difficulties. You cannot run your tanks and ships on those questionable assurances. And what of your financial infrastructure? Your people have suffered great deprivation in the name of industrial progress, but how will that end if you cannot afford the oil you need to grow?

The people are devoted to following our Dear Leader.

For the first time, Adina did nothing to disguise his impatience. It is difficult for people to remain in lockstep when they are starving to death. Lets be frank, shall we? Your country has suffered food shortages for over a decade with no end in sight. You have chosen to cut off foreign aid, even from nongovernmental agencies such as the World Food Program. This has only worsened the situation. Your stranglehold on the people is enforced not through devotion, but through martial law. Your policies have resulted in famine, chronic poverty, and a decline in productivity. As the price of oil climbs, your troubles will only increase. Your military remains strong, but to what purpose? You have two million men in uniform doing nothing more than guarding a border that separates you from your own brothers in the south. How will that end for you? Hwang stood up as the translation was completed, but before he could speak, Adina said, Sit down, Im not finished.

The Korean stared at him in disbelief. Do you understand that I am here on behalf of the Great Leader? Do you realize, that if I so choose, you will never leave this room alive?

Adina remained utterly composed as he replied, And to whom do you think you are speaking, some fool toady you can intimidate with your threats? Kim would not have sent you to meet with me unless he believed I had something important to say.

Insulting my glorious country, is that what I should find important?

No, my friend, the Latin replied, speaking slowly so that nothing would be missed by the translator. What I have come to say is that I have a solution to these problems. A strategy, if you will, that will benefit your country and mine.

Hwang hesitated for a moment, then sat back down. Well?

What if we could arrange a means of using your military intelligence and capability to deal a mortal wound to our common enemy? What if we could do it in such a way that the blame was not laid at your doorstep or mine? What if we work together to ensure that you will have access to oil at a fair price for decades to come, while crippling the United States in the process?

You want us to go to war against the United States?

Quite the contrary. I want to help you avoid a war with the United States, a war that is inevitable if your economic issues worsen and your flaunting of their demands increases. Lets be frank in our assessments for a moment. Try to put aside the patriotic claptrap youre forced to recite for the masses and look at the realities here. The Korean translator visibly flinched as he delivered this sentence, but Adina went on. Where will all the hunger and oppression in your country inevitably lead? Eventually you will be left with a disenchanted people and a huge army with war as the only rationale for its use. Just as the United States needed the Second World War to lift itself from the Great Depression, the DPRK will be left with no alternative but bloody conflict. Then who will you fight? The Chinese? The Japanese? The Americans? With their resources, it will spell disaster for you. Hwang began to protest, but Adina held up his hand. Right now our enemies in the West face an ongoing battle with the extremists in the Middle East. Instead of becoming entangled in those hostilities, let us embark on a mission that will use the fanaticism of the Islamic lunatics for our benefit. Let them escalate their conflicts with the United States, let them deflect all attention away from us while we actually deal the Americans a crushing blow. Let our two nations become the core of a great new alliance for this young century.

Next page
Light

Font size:

Reset

Interval:

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «Targets of Opportunity»

Look at similar books to Targets of Opportunity. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.


Reviews about «Targets of Opportunity»

Discussion, reviews of the book Targets of Opportunity and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.