Edge of Honor (42 page)
Authors: Richard Herman
Writing is a lonely endeavor and I am indebted to four good friends, Karen Kijewski, John Lescroart, and Steve Martini, who have shared the angst and agony over so many books. But I owe a special thanks to William P. Wood. Bill has the wonderful ability to sift through rubble and find gold. Without his sage advice, I would have lost my way countless times.
New Mexico Military Institute may be one of the best kept secrets in the United States. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement and I only hope that I did the institute and the corps justice. I am indebted to the superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert Beckel; the dean, Col. William E. Gibbs; the commandant, Lt. Col. Seth Orell; their staffs, and most important, the corps of cadets. Special thanks to SFC Amanda Greer, and the three Rats who really made NMMI come alive: Jennifer Petty, Truong Doan, and Adam Siler. Mr. Jimmy Britton, the executive secretary of the NMMI Alumni Association, was kind enough to spend a day helping me search for story locations around Roswell. And in the process, he showed me the beauty of the people and the land.
I have never flown in an F-16, but Lt. Col. Mike Harrington, USAF, made the Viper come alive. It is a wonderful jet and Mike taught me why it is such a feared weapons system. Lt. Col. Paul Woodford, USAF, (Ret), and SDS International gave me an invaluable refresher course in Cockpit Resource Management and again demonstrated the importance of the human element in aerial combat.
Many others helped immensely. Dr. George Kaczynski
and Dr. Anna Danuta Kaczynski provided an introduction to the Polish people and their culture. In Poland, Zbigniew Foniok and Malgorzata Foniok, my publishers at Amber, spent many gracious hours discussing the current situation in their country. Ewa Malacina was a perfect hostess, and Krzysztof Bednarek a translator par excellence.
Two helicopter pilots, Ken Fritz and Dudley Hale, kept me honest and on track when I tried to write about helicopters. Lt. Col. Rob Stone, USAF, (Ret), introduced me to the world of Foreign Military Sales and struck many sparks.
To all, many thanks.
A former weapons system officer,
RICHARD HERMAN
was a member of the United States Air Force for twenty-one years, until he retired in 1983 with the rank of Major. He is the author of eight previous novels—including
The Warbirds, Force of Eagles, Firebreak, Call to Duty, Power Curve
, and
Against All Enemies
, all published by Avon Books. Mr. Herman currently lives and works in Gold River, a suburb of Sacramento, California.
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“ON A PAR WITH TOM CLANCY.”
Denver Post
Madeline Turner, the first female U.S. President, has already weathered global crises, treachery, and insurrection in her own cabinet during the first months of her administration. But the balance of power has suddenly shifted dangerously and dramatically in Europe. The Russian government has fallen into the hands of a criminal, a man of ruthless and insane ambition. Suddenly a fearsome, re-emergent bear is on a rampage, locking a determined Maddy Turner into a war of wits and weaponry with the deadly cabal of drug runners and murderers. She will need capable allies beside her—like Air Force legend Matt Pontowski, who will become the proud and powerful, yet lonely and beleaguered Commander-in-Chief’s confident, friend, and more. Because the explosive confrontation to come could reshape the face of the world and decide the fate of President Turner herself.
“HERMAN IS A MASTER.”
Florida Times-Union
“Hillary Rodham Clinton and Elizabeth Dole would be no match for ‘Maddy’ Turner.”
USA Today
“INTRICATELY WOVEN…SOLID ENTERTAINMENT…Herman deftly negotiates murderous chicanery, political hanky-panky, gripping air combat, and steamy sex in a sweeping political epic of post-Cold War power struggles.”
Publishers Weekly
A
GAINST
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LL
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NEMIES
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OWER
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URVE
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RON
G
ATE
D
ARK
W
ING
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ALL TO
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IREBREAK
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ORCE OF
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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
EDGE OF HONOR
. Copyright © 1999 by Richard Herman, Jr., Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition July 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-195241-8
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