Blindfold Game

Dana Stabenow writes forcefully about the majesty of the Alaskan wilderness. I always consider a trip every time I finish one of her stories. The passion to protect her home state and to admire and uphold the native population is as familiar to her as to her favorite brand of coffee. The characters and plot of this book are as challenging as they are engaging. I had to evaluate who had the perception of the most to gain or loose in order to figure out "who-done-it". I really enjoy participating in the climax and ending even when I am wrong.

In Thailand, two men hire a pair of international pirates to smuggle them, a small team of mercenaries, and some equipment aboard a freighter at a Russian port. It's frighteningly easy, and the ship sails east, toward the western coast of North America. The crew onboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sojourner Truth, stationed in the Bering Sea along the Maritime Boundary Line, is busier than usual, catching fishing vessels on the wrong side of the line, but it's not enough to cause undue alarm. In Washington, D.C., a CIA analyst has been hearing rumors about the sale of radioactive material and military equipment on the black market in deep Russia but can't get it confirmed. The analyst, Hugh Rincon, originally from Alaska and more keenly aware than most in Washington of Alaska's vulnerability with its air force base and proximity to the Far East, begins to piece it all together. He can't get anyone to take him seriously, however, least of all the director of the CIA. Then Hugh learns that his estranged wife, Sarah Lange, is second in command on the Sojourner Truth in the Bering Sea at the heart of the potential conflict. And the chase is on. The first stand-alone thriller from the pen of Dana Stabenow, Edgar Award--winning author of seventeen crime novels, delivers a nail-biting, action-packed read, international in scope and frighteningly real.

Gifted actress Beth McDonald has mastered almost every entertainment medium. She appeared on Broadway in the unforgettable Angels in America and A Few Good Men. She carries off roles in everything from Elizabethan drama to contemporary comedy with aplomb. TV audiences enjoy her as Dr. Lynn Michaels on As The World Turns, and her films include Mona Lisa Smile and Nights in Phnom Phen. She tackles an audiobook with the same verve and confidence that she brings to all her roles. Her narration of this terrorist driven suspense tale is authentic and true, especially in descriptions of a sea battle in frigid, dark waters. Edgar Award winning author Dana Stabenow has penned some 16 crime novels, many of which are set in Alaska. She returns to that area with a different twist - it all begins in Thailand where international pirates are paid to smuggle mercenaries and equipment to the coast of North America. Back at home members of the CIA believe military equipment has been sold over the black-market in Russia. However, they don't have anything concrete. One of them, Hugh Rincon, an Alaska native, gets very close to solving the puzzle. But no one else at the CIA will buy his theory. Hugh can put up with being ignored by his superiors but when he learns that his wife, Sarah Lane, is second in command of the Sojourner's Truth in the Bering Sea, it's a different story. That is the exact site where he believes a confrontation will take place. With no one to stand by him Hugh realizes that he must save not only his wife but Alaska is also in peril. Edge of your seat listening as the two ships draw close to each other. - Gail Cooke

The dirt bomb set in a busy market street on Pattaya Beach, Thailand killed over a hundred mostly local shopkeepers and Japanese tourists, but some were American and other nations' military. No one stepped forward to claim the act. Just after the terrorist strike, two men calling themselves Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones meet with sea Captain Fang and maritime shipping expert Mr. Noortman. They hire the two maritime experts to deliver a special cargo to Alaska. CIA satellite technology catches the notorious Fang and Noortman with the two men in Thailand. Concerned that they were involved with the Pattaya Beach terrorism, which may have been a test run for something greater, CIA Agent Hugh Rincon is assigned to investigate and stop any incident from reaching American shores. He quickly realizes that he might spend quality time with his wife, whom he has been with the equivalent of one year in the decade they have been married, because Sara Lange is the executive officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Sojourner Truth patrolling the Maritime Boundary Line in the northern Pacific Ocean. That is quality time trying to stop the plot of Smith and Jones targeting 240,000 civilians in Alaska. Expanding from her wonderful Kate Shugak and Liam Campbell Alaskan mysteries, Dana Stabenow provides readers with an action-packed, fast-paced, but very plausible international thriller. The story line travels the globe until the climax off Alaska, which includes battling the nasty weather as much as a terrific sea and air maneuvers. Thriller fans will welcome Ms. Stabenow into the genre with this powerful tale that will be read in one enthralling sitting. Harriet Klausner