On the eve of her five-year wedding anniversary, a devastating terrorist attack in Paris thrusts former CIA analyst Kate Preacher into a lethal cat-and-mouse game of kill or be killed…
Kate’s husband, retired Navy SEAL Jake Church, is the right man in the wrong place. Caught in the middle of the Paris attack, Jake’s actions spark an international media storm, drawing unwanted attention and awakening old enemies.
Refusing to let the suspicious attack go unquestioned…or the perpetrators go unpunished, Kate’s lured back into a world of deception and betrayal—a world she thought she had escaped. And as the pieces in a twisted puzzle reveal a shocking global conspiracy, the investigation paints a target on her back.
Is Kate just a pawn in a deadly international plot, or can she outplay a ruthless killer?
Relentless is a story ripped from the headlines, and the riveting first book in the Kate Preacher Thriller Series. If you like smart, tough characters, intense action, and emotional tension, then you’ll love Michael Maloof’s vigilante heroine. You’ll love Kate Preacher.
On the eve of her five-year wedding anniversary, a devastating terrorist attack in Paris thrusts former CIA analyst Kate Preacher into a lethal cat-and-mouse game of kill or be killed…
Kate’s husband, retired Navy SEAL Jake Church, is the right man in the wrong place. Caught in the middle of the Paris attack, Jake’s actions spark an international media storm, drawing unwanted attention and awakening old enemies.
Refusing to let the suspicious attack go unquestioned…or the perpetrators go unpunished, Kate’s lured back into a world of deception and betrayal—a world she thought she had escaped. And as the pieces in a twisted puzzle reveal a shocking global conspiracy, the investigation paints a target on her back.
Is Kate just a pawn in a deadly international plot, or can she outplay a ruthless killer?
Relentless is a story ripped from the headlines, and the riveting first book in the Kate Preacher Thriller Series. If you like smart, tough characters, intense action, and emotional tension, then you’ll love Michael Maloof’s vigilante heroine. You’ll love Kate Preacher.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, THE PRESENT
6:15 AM EDT
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Nomad flexed his right wrist, and with the palm of his hand, eased the joystick forward. The motor on his wheelchair hummed, and he maneuvered toward the center of the workstation. This environment was his creation. The height set to accommodate his chair with room beneath to manipulate the joystick. With subtle right or left pressure on the stick, he could navigate the full semicircle desk and jump between clients and projects.
There were traditional keyboards and mice, but the layer of fine dust revealed little use. Nomad’s world was one of proprietary speech recognition technology and the pressure-sensitive controls he designed and added to his chair. His forearms, wrists, fingers, head and voice all served as system navigation and command-and-control interfaces.
A matrix of monitors, stacked three high and eight across, spanned the arc of the desk and formed his window on the outside world. As a C6 quadriplegic, what he lost in physical mobility he regained in the virtual world. He chose the name Nomad for the irony, and believed his world offered freedom, control, and safety.
Nomad scanned the monitors. His building’s security cameras, global news feeds, random engineering musings of a few MIT grads on Slack. Another monitor was hammering away on a client’s file with one of his decryption algorithms. No challengers yet on any of his virtual chess boards, and that brought him to the Frenchman, his favorite opponent.
The central monitor was a live, split-screen camera feed from the Frenchman’s Paris apartment. One feed came from the Frenchman’s laptop, and the other from the camera embedded in the smart TV. It was Nomad’s practice to plant malware on the systems of anyone in his inner circle. What began as a safety protocol became something more, and he watched and lived vicariously through his contact’s living rooms and their digital and social media lives.
Nomad glanced at the camera feed’s system clock. Twelve-fifteen. It was almost time. He hoped the apartment would be empty, but saw Francois scurrying about, preparing for the meeting. Nomad knew it was pointless, but he had to try one more time.
Francois’s laptop rang with Nomad’s encrypted call request. He watched the Frenchman approach the laptop and press cancel. Nomad tried again, and this time he watched Francois accept the call.
“I admire your determination,” Francois began, “but there’s nothing left to discuss.”
“Look, I know how it sounds, but I’m begging you to trust me,” Nomad said. “You need to leave.”
“You ask for trust but hide in the shadows.”
“Who I am is not important. All you need to know is that your life is in danger.”
“Nonsense,” he said. “For one thing, I know who you are, but rest assured, your secret is safe with me. Why you’ve chosen this life, I will never understand, but that is your business and now you must leave me to mine.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, no, my friend. You misunderstand,” Francois said. “This is just a promise that I will keep you out of the discussion, but Moore Industries needs to know what you found. They believe the device is impenetrable, exceeding even the capabilities of quantum computing, and with millions relying on this technology, I have no choice. There is no room for debate.”
“You’re missing the point,” Nomad said. “Tens of millions of customers is exactly why Moore will do anything to protect the NanoVault’s reputation.”
“Again with the conspiracy theories,” Francois said. “You watch too much American TV. I am a respected academic meeting with a representative of a major corporation, not the KGB.”
“I pray I’m wrong,” Nomad said.
“Au revoir, my friend.”
“Wait,” Nomad said. “Before you hang up, what makes you think you know who I am?”
“I understand some hackers have a signature, patterns of behavior, code or techniques they use, that help identify the author.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“So do chess players.”
Nomad heard the knock at the Frenchman’s door. Francois called out to his visitor, and the call ended.
Relentless is the first book in author Michael Maloof’s thrilling new series featuring former CIA analyst Kate Preacher, and what a debut it is! With its honorable and sympathetic protagonist and breathtaking plot, this book needs to be on the top of every thriller lover’s wish list!
The main character is Kate Preacher, a former CIA analyst who left the business when a mission went horribly wrong. As a result of the mission, though, she met her husband and the love of her life, Jake Church, a retired SEAL and now owner of an elite executive protection firm. Kate now uses her vast technological skills to support litigation at a downtown Richmond, Virginia, law firm. At times, those skills satisfyingly end up helping the little guy but, for the most part, assist in protecting the assets or reputation of the firm’s wealthy, high-profile clients who have something to hide. Lately, she’s been second-guessing her career choice and what her future holds, but a deadly terrorist attack in Paris ultimately takes the decision out of her hands. Kate is a dynamic character, going from crippling grief to fully harnessing every skill and tactic in her repertoire to follow up on what Jake was secretly investigating and tracking down those responsible for the Parisian café bloodbath. She’s smart and determined and swallows her pride in calling on all her old connections for favors, even those she swore she’d never deal with again. I quite literally ached for what Kate had experienced in her past and for all she was going through in the present.
The story opens tragically and violently, establishing an atmosphere of dark, brooding menace always lurking in the background. The resulting sorrow is interrupted by adrenaline-fueled action sequences that had me gasping, and scenes of military honors, traditions, and ceremonies had me trying to hold back tears. The plot thickens with unexpected twists and turns and high-tech shenanigans. Still, with both Kate’s and Jake’s backgrounds, an amazing array of creative and envy-inducing technological and tactical hardware is available to Kate for her to fight back. The story was mesmerizing, and I didn’t want to put the book down. My only regret is that there isn’t a prequel detailing the Syrian mission.
I recommend RELENTLESS to readers who enjoy thrillers with international connections, technological creativity, and capable, strong female protagonists.