{"product_id":"the-polaris-protocol-isbn-9780451467676","title":"The Polaris Protocol","description":"\u003cb\u003eTaskforce operators Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill are used to putting their lives at risk, but in this thrilling \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller, one of their own family gets caught up in untold danger... \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs an investigative reporter working on the Mexican drug cartels, Jack Cahill has unknowingly gotten caught between two rival groups. His desperate call to his sister is his last before he’s kidnapped.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In their efforts to rescue Jack, Pike and Jennifer uncover a plot much more insidious than illegal drug trafficking—the cartel that put a target on Jack’s back has discovered a GPS hack with the power to effectively debilitate the United States.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With the GPS hack about to be exploited and Jack’s life at stake, Jennifer and Pike must find a way to eliminate the impending threat. The price of failure, for both the Taskforce and the country, is higher than ever.\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe Polaris Protocol\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A great premise, nonstop action, and one of the baddest villains in the genre...make this a winner.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Admirers of the late Tom Clancy will enjoy this and other works in the series.”—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Taylor continues to tell exciting action stories with the authenticity of someone who knows the world of special ops. He also has the chops to create terrific characters whom readers will root for. This series just gets better and better.”—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMore Praise for Brad Taylor and the Pike Logan series\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e“Pike ranks right up there with Jason Bourne, Jack Reacher, and Jack Bauer.”—John Lescroart, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Fresh plot, great action and Taylor clearly knows what he is writing about....When it comes to tactics and hardware he is spot on.”—Vince Flynn, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Logan is a tough, appealing hero you’re sure to root for.”—Joseph Finder, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “[Pike Logan is a] feisty, devil-may-care hero.”—Steve Berry, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Taylor has become one of the very best writers of thrillers with a military and special-ops background...Comparisons to Vince Flynn and Brad Thor are expected and not inaccurate, but Taylor is now in a class by himself.”—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Slick, exciting action and credible complexity are the hallmarks of Taylor’s high-caliber thrillers.”—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Few authors write about espionage, terrorism, and clandestine hit squads as well as Taylor does.”—\u003ci\u003eHouston Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Action packed....Those who prize authentic military action will be rewarded.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eBRAD TAYLOR\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling Pike Logan series. He served for more than twenty years in the U.S. Army, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. He retired as a Special Forces lieutenant colonel and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina.\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof.***\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCopyright © 2014  by Brad Taylor\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDecember, 2011\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSergeant Ronald Blackmar never heard the round before it hit, but registered the whine of a ricochet right next to his head and felt the sliver of rock slice into his cheek. He slammed lower behind the outcropping and felt his face, seeing blood on his assault gloves. His platoon leader, First Lieutenant Blake Alberty, threw himself into the prone and said with black humor, “You get our asses out of here, and I’ll get you another purple heart.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackmar said, “I’ve got nothing else to work with. The eighty-ones won’t reach and the Apaches are dry.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother stream of incoming machine-gun fire raked their position, and Alberty returned it, saying, “We’re in trouble. And I’m not going to be the next COP Keating.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth from the 25th Infantry Division, they were part of a string of Combat Outposts in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan, ostensibly designed to prevent the infiltration of Taliban fighters from the nearby border of Pakistan, but in reality a giant bulls eye for anyone wanting a scalp. They were attacked at the COP on a daily basis, but followed orders, continuing their patrols to the nearby villages in an effort to get the locals on the government side.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mountains of the Kunar province were extreme, and afforded the Taliban an edge, putting the Americans on equal terms. Everything was done on foot, as the mountains negated artillery, leaving the troops reliant on helicopter gunship support. The same thing COP Keating had relied on when it was overrun two years before.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe incoming fire grew in strength, and Alberty began receiving reports of casualties. They were on their own, and about to be overrun. A trophy for the Taliban. Blackmar heard the platoon designated marksmen firing, their rifles’ individual cracks distinctive among the rattle of automatic fire, and felt impotent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the forward observer, his entire career had been to provide steel on target for the Infantry he supported. He was the man they turned to when they wanted American firepower, and now he had nothing to provide, his radio silent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlberty shouted, “They’re flanking, they’re flanking! We need the gunships.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackmar was about to reply when his radio squawked. “Kilo Seven-Nine, this is Texas Thirteen. You have targets?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe said, “Yes, yes. What’s your ordinance?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Five hundred pound GBU.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGBU? A fast mover with JDAMs?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe said, “What’s your heading?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pilot said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m a BUFF. Way above you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackmar heard the words, and couldn’t believe it. He’d called in everything from 81-millimeter mortars to F15 strike aircraft, but he’d never called fire from a B-52 stratofortress. Not that it mattered, as the five-hundred pound JDAM was guided by GPS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe lased the Taliban position for range, shacked up his coordinates, and sent the fire request. The pilot reported bombs out, asking for a splash. He kept his eyes on the enemy, waiting. Nothing happened.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlberty screamed, “You hit the village, you hit the village. Shift, shift.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe village? That damn thing is seven hundred meters away.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe checked his location and lased again, now plotting the impact danger close as the enemy advanced. He repeated the call with the new coordinates, and waited for the splash.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlberty shouted again, “You’re pounding the fucking village! Get the rounds on target, damn it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackmar frantically checked his map and his range, shouting back, “I’m right. I’m on target. The bombs aren’t tracking.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe volume of enemy fire increased, and Alberty began maneuvering his forces, forgetting about the firepower circling at 30,000 feet. Blackmar called for another salvo, recalculating yet again. No ordinance impacted the enemy. Thirty minutes later, the American’s superior firepower meant nothing, as the fight went hand-to-hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCaptain “Tiny” Shackleford noticed the first glitch when the coordinates on his screen showed the RQ-107 unmanned aerial vehicle a hundred miles away from the designated flight path. Which, given his target area over Iran’s nuclear facilities, was a significant problem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlying the drone from inside Tonapah airbase, Nevada, he felt a rush of adrenaline as if he were still in the cockpit of an F-16 over enemy airspace and his early warning sensors had triggered a threat. He called an alert, saying he had an issue, then realized he’d lost link with the UAV. He began working the problem, trying to prevent the drone from going into autopilot and landing, while the CIA owners went into overdrive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe RQ-107 was a new stealth UAV, the latest and greatest evolution of unmanned reconnaissance, and as such, it was used out of Afghanistan to probe the nuclear ambitions of Iran. It had proven the ability to fly above the Persian state with impunity, and was a major link to the intelligence community on Iranian intentions. Losing one inside Iranian airspace would be a disaster. An army of technicians went to work, a modern day version of Apollo Thirteen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey failed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMark Oglethorpe, the United States Secretary of Defense, said, “We’ve had forty-two confirmed GPS failures. We’ve identified the glitch, and it’s repaired, but we lost a UAV inside Iran because of it.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlexander Palmer, the National Security advisor, said, “Glitch? I’d say it’s more than a glitch. What happened?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The new AEP system of the GPS constellation had a software\/hardware mating problem. It’s something that the contractor couldn’t see beforehand.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Bullshit. It’s something they failed to see. Did it affect the civilian systems? Am I going to hear about this from Transportation?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“No. Only the military signal, but you’re definitely going to hear about it from the Iranians. They’re already claiming they brought our bird down.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePalmer rubbed his forehead, thinking about what to brief the president. “I don’t give a damn. They got the drone, and that’s going to be a fact on tomorrow’s news. Let’em crow.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You want to allow them the propaganda of saying they can capture our most sophisticated UAV? We’ll look like idiots.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Someone is an idiot. But I’d rather the world wonder about the Iranian statements.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“As opposed to what?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The fucking truth, that’s what.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 2\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePresent Day\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoshua Bryant saw the seatbelt light flash and knew they had just broken through ten thousand feet. Time to shut off his iPod, but more importantly, it was his turn in the window seat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly fifteen years old, his passion in life was airplanes and his singular goal was to become a pilot—unlike his younger sister, who only wanted the window to aggravate him. She’d complained as they had boarded, and his mother had split the difference. She got the window for takeoff, and he got it for landing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Mom, we’re coming into final approach and it’s my turn.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis sister immediately responded, “No we’re not! He’s just talking like he knows what’s going on.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoshua started to reply when the pilot came over the intercom, telling them they had about ten more minutes before parking at their gate in Denver. Joshua smiled instead, just to annoy her. She grouched a little more, but gave up her seat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter buckling up, he pressed his face against the glass, looking towards the wing jutting out three rows up, watching the flaps getting manipulated by the pilot. The aircraft continued its approach and he saw the distinctive swastika shape of Denver International Airport.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA flight attendant came by checking seat belts at a leisurely pace, then another rushed up and whispered in her ear. They both speed-walked in the direction of the cockpit, the original flight attendant’s face pale.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoshua didn’t give it much thought, returning his attention to the window. He placed his hands on either side of his face to block the glare, and began scanning. On the ground below he saw a small private plane taxiing. With as much conscious thought as someone recognizing a vegetable, he knew it was a Cessna 182.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Boeing 757 continued to descend and began to overtake the Cessna. Strangely, the Cessna continued taxiing. With a start, Joshua realized it had taken off, directly underneath them. He watched it rise in slow motion, closing the distance to their fragile airship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe turned from the window and screamed, “Plane! An airplane!” His mother said, “What?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Cessna collided with the left wing just outside the engine, a jarring bump as if the 757 had hit a pocket of turbulent air. Passengers began to murmur and whip their heads left and right, looking for someone to explain what had happened.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty feet of wing sheared off as the Cessna chewed through the metal like a buzzsaw, exploding in a spectacular spray of metal confetti, followed by a fuel-air ball of fire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoshua knew the wing would no longer provide lift. Knew they were all dead. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was the first to scream.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft yawed to the left, seeming to hang in the air for the briefest of moments, then began to plummet to earth sideways. The rest of the passengers joined Joshua, screaming maniacally, as if that would have any effect on the outcome.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fuselage picked up speed and began to spin, the centrifugal force slapping the passengers about, one minute right side up, the next upside down, filling the cabin with flying debris.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFour seconds later, the screams of all one hundred and eighty seven souls ceased at the exact same moment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dutton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301505716453,"sku":"NP9780451467676","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780451467676.jpg?v=1767740994","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-polaris-protocol-isbn-9780451467676","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}