An alluring Cuban pilot and a young American soldier.
Can they outrun the threat of nuclear war?
Lieutenant Charlie Parnell grinds through his daily routine in Army Intelligence at Arlington Hall Station, Virginia. He tracks Cuban movements through Havana newspapers and Cuban radio, but what heтАЩs counting are the dreary days until his military discharge. When the colonel calls him up to the command post one day, the last people Charlie expects to meet are two suits from the CIA. Sure, CharlieтАЩs a gutsy street-smart guy who speaks fluent Spanish and has debriefed his fair share of Cuban refugees, but heтАЩs mostly a pencil pusher with a limp thatтАЩs kept him out of the field. What could the nationтАЩs spy organization want with him?
As the scheme to unseat Fidel Castro unfolds, Charlie finds the plot runs deeper than the CIA has led him to believe. After the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, strategic placement of ballistic missiles has heightened the threat of nuclear war, and Charlie fears heтАЩll end up in the danger zone with only one extremely risky escape route.
Skeptical of his CIA handlers, Charlie devises a backup plan. ThereтАЩs a steep cost to that too, but itтАЩs a gamble that could play out to his advantage in the end. Everything is on track until he meets an attractive Cuban pilot and her daughter. Before any of them know it, theyтАЩre running for their lives.
A prior version of this book was independently published by John J. Harrigan in 2016 under the title Crosshairs on Castro.
JJ Harrigan writes historical thrillers that stem from his experiences as a soldier stationed in Germany during the Cold War, a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in Latin America, and a Professor of Political Science. He graduated from Loyola University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D. at Georgetown University. Currently, he scribbles his tales of intrigue from his apartment on the banks of the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where he lives happily with his wife, Sandy.