The Cold War is going badly for President Reagan's administration. Support in Europe for the Soviet Union is on the rise, while acceptance of the new US intermediate range nuclear missiles is waning.Enter Roy Garret, a bright young NSA analyst with a plan. It goes into effect on the morning of 1 September 1983 when Korean Air Lines commercial passenger flight 007 takes off from Anchorage, Alaska, heading for Seoul. The airliner rendezvous with a US spy plane over the Bearing Sea, overflies a top secret Soviet submarine base and is then shot down off Sakhalin Island...Or is it? No wreckage or bodies are recovered. And a radar tape that shows what really happened to KAL 007 has gone missing. On board the downed airliner were 269 souls, including one US Congressman with too many secrets.Thirty years later, the missing radar tape falls into the hands of the daughter of a KAL 007 passenger and the son of the US spy plane commander. Determined to keep the facts hidden after all these years is New Mexico Governor Roy Garret, who is now contesting the US presidency.What follows is a desperate chase across Russia to uncover the truth once and for all from beneath the snows of Siberia. Can two young idealists outwit the forces ranged against them, or will Uncle Sam and the Russian Bear sweep history under the carpet again? ** Review "Halfway between a Jerry Bruckheimer mega-spectacle and one of those frightfully clever BBC political thrillers. Cleanly done...and sophisticated." --The Age "A ripping yarn that you are sure to enjoy curled up by the fire. Just remember it is a novel and not the truth." --Bookcase From the Author I went to Siberia in winter as part of the research for this book. It was bloody cold and everyone drank vodka, including me. It didn't take me long to figure out that its a great place to send people if you want them to die. No, not the friendliest of places. Also, I pretty thoroughly reviewed all the evidence of the KAL 007 incident and came to the conclusion that the government explanations just didn't ring true. It's not possible for a 747 to crash in the ocean without leaving a slick of debris on the water a couple miles long, especially if the plane breaks up at altitude. Anyway, writing this, I feel myself getting sucked back into the arguments. THE ZERO OPTION is a 'serious' thriller, I guess you'd say. Unlike my other novels, this one is based on a real incident. Personally, I think it's my best work yet. Best David

As shocking as today's headlines... In this no-holds-barred thriller, David Rollins plunges readers deep into the heart of a terrifying conspiracy of absolute power at its absolute worst. *Who can you trust when those you’re taught to trust are perpetrating the ultimate act of betrayal?As evil as your worst fears...*For Special Investigator Major Vin Cooper, it begins with a sniper’s bullet that claims the life of a young G.I. on a routine patrol in Iraq. It’s an all-too-familiar tragedy, not a crime, until it’s linked to the bizarre death of a four-star general...who just happens to be the dead soldier’s father and the son-in-law of a powerful U.S. vice president. Cooper’s investigation will uncover a trail of “accidental” deaths that leads from the war-torn streets of Baghdad to sex slavery in Latvia to a celebrated political marriage that began in the White House Rose Garden. But as he pieces together the most shocking conspiracy in history, Cooper begins to wonder if his superiors really want him to uncover the truth...or become the next victim of the most murderous lie of all.From Publishers WeeklyAussie author Rollins's first novel is a fast-moving, funny thriller with a smart-aleck hero who faces death and worse with a quip on his lips. Military special investigator Maj. Vincent Cooper bounds around the world, dodging death while searching for the reason a four-star general and his son were murdered—a nifty bit of evil that goes all the way to the White House—and encounters grouchy Germans, ruthless and sexy Russians, world-weary Italians, stoned Canadians and, not surprisingly, heroic Australians. The accents, attitudes and genders pose no problem for Foster, who handles them with brisk efficiency. He understands that, with a yarn involving a protagonist who suffers beatings, bullets and broken bones, but keeps plugging away at a global conspiracy with more layers than an artichoke, to pause for an elaborate shift in accent is to risk close scrutiny of the story. Instead, with subtle vocal shifts he's able to set a breathless pace, keeping the listener on board the roller coaster until it comes to a complete, satisfying stop. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistRollins' first novel, published to deserved acclaim in Australia in 2005, begins with a one-two punch. In Iraq, a U.S. Army sergeant is gunned down by a sniper; not long after, in Germany, the sergeant's father is piloting a glider when the aircraft suddenly falls to pieces in midair. Was this a coincidence, or has someone targeted father and son? In charge of the case is Special Agent Vin Cooper, of the Office of Special Investigations—recently divorced and looking for something to distract him from the ruins of his personal life. The novel's story will be familiar to many readers (it involves a conspiracy at the White House), but Cooper is such an appealing narrator that seeing the story through his eyes is like seeing it afresh. Many thriller writers dive right into the action, but Rollins sneaks up on the story, takes it nice and slow, as though he is writing a police procedural rather than a thriller. Definitely a few cuts above most political-conspiracy yarns. Pitt, David

A $15 million ransom. A plane down in the remote swamps of Darwin. A new partner who plays by the rules. Special Agent Vin Cooper isn't having a good week. After returning from an enforced sabbatical, still guilt-ridden over his partner Anna's death, Vin agrees to help out an acquaintance of hers - a Vegas showgirl. Alabama's boyfriend Randy is missing; his plane's gone down in mysterious circumstances and she's been sent a bloody ransom package. What starts as an informal missing person case spirals into a full-blown multi-agency screw-up. Not only was Randy hiding some very high-level secrets, but it also appears he is connected to a missing nuclear weapon. Worst-case scenario is that the warhead is in the hands of the tyrannical Benicio Von Weiss, a man with particular interests: luxury cruiseliners, busty blondes, Nazi memorabilia and poisonous snakes. And, of course, drugs, guns and vengeance against America.

Joe Light, his computer hacking days behind him, kicks back in first class on board the QANTAS 747 bound for London. In the Hawaiian office of the National Security Agency, an electronic intruder within a Government computer network is detected. An unusual radio signal and non-routine troop movements in Indonesia raise suspicions further. An air traffic controller at Denpasar Airport is shocked by the sudden disappearance of Flight QF1 from his screen. He doesn't want to admit what that could mean. The sickening groan of metal breaking up plunges Joe Light and his fellow passengers into everyone's worst nightmare. The 747 is screaming towards earth. On board there is sheer panic. The news of the downing of the plane in Indonesian airspace is only the beginning of Australian Prime Minister Bill Blight's crisis. ASIO and the NSA piece together a frightening scenario in the face of Indonesia's denial of any knowledge of what happened to the aircraft–one that will pit Australia's crack Special Air Services troops, led by Sergeant Tom Wilkes, and aided by the US Marines, in a desperate covert battle to avert all out war.

In Papua New Guinea, primitive highlanders are armed with AK-47's.In the Persian Gulf, a fishing boat has a sinister cargo. At a luxury hotel in Manila, a 'financial planner' has a rendezvous with men on the world's Most Wanted list. In Israel's West Bank, the unwinnable war continues to rage.And in Canberra, top intelligence and police specialists assemble to find out why terrorists from either side of the world are joining forces in Australia's back yard. Present is Sergeant Tom Wilkes of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. Wilkes is seconded to the US Central Intelligence Agency where he spearheads the action team set up to fight the latest extremist menace, a plan more monstrous than anyone – even the experts – could have foretold.Gripping, intelligent and terrifying, Sword of Allah is the ultimate thriller for the post September 11 world.

Scarred by the death of a fellow agent last year, Special Agent Vin Cooper volunteers for the most dangerous job going: personal security for bent politicians in Afghanistan. But when his principal is blown up by a suicide bomber, Cooper is reassigned. Now he's babysitting a pair of spoilt hip-hop superstars, flown to a top-secret base in Rwanda to perform a sympathy gig for the US military. It's bad enough that the pair, once lovers, now hate each others guts. But then their UN chopper is forced down into the Congo jungle and things take a serious turn for the worse. Surrounded by enemy fire, Cooper has to think quickly as his principals are dragged away. Now he's trapped in the Congo without radio or supplies. He'll risk his life to save his superstars: that's his job. But who is he fighting? And why is he here? Ticking like a time-bomb, brimming with terror and threat, David Rollins' Ghost Watch is a high-voltage story of corruption, cover-up and blistering suspense.ReviewFast-paced. (A) punchy, fun, action-packed thriller that willkeep readers churning through the pages. (A) highly enjoyable novel.--Australian Bookseller and PublisherIt's a tense story, quite confronting in places. Vin's back and I want more! --Good ReadingRollins is a fine writer ... elegantly clever... (Ghost Watch is) a tremendous, high-voltage read.Highly recommended. --Sunshine Coast Sunday About the AuthorDavid Rollins was born in Sydney and still lives there. On leaving school he applied to join the air force, but luckily for both parties was rejected. He became a journalist, and then an advertising copywriter, and after twenty years he sat down to write his first novel. He's still writing.

A helicopter with the Russian President aboard is shot down over northern Syria and captured by the Scorpion, the last remaining and most feared ISIS combat commander. The only person who could possibly effect a rescue is former OSI Special Agent Vin Cooper. But unfortunately for the President, Cooper's not in the saving-the-world game any more.A small US Special Ops unit witnesses two Russian Hinds downed over northern Syria. The last remaining and most feared ISIS commander known as the Scorpion captures the survivors - the Russian President, his entourage, and the briefcase containing the launch codes for Russia’s nukes.And those missiles are still mostly aimed at US cities.With this haul in his possession, the Scorpion is proclaimed the Madhi, the final caliph of the Koran’s apocalyptic legends who will defeat the West and usher in the End of Days - when the dead shall rise and walk the earth.As millions of...