The Acheron Deception

A C.I.A. agent recruits a Wall Street securities trader to help her track down a surreptitious nest of terrorists manipulating the stock market in this decade-spanning espionage thriller. It begins in 1987, when the prevailing winds of Glasnost have caught the Russian leadership by surprise... catapulting the confusion caused by the impending breakup of the Soviet Union to new levels. For K.G.B. agent Mikhail Volkov, the chaos provides something else altogether — an opportunity to steal four nuclear weapons from a Russian test facility. Sean McGowan, a software engineer in the securities industry, has come a long way from the trailer park where he grew up in New Mexico. He leads an exciting life now, with wealth, influence and the company of beautiful women, until Volkov comes after him to expropriate his ultra-fast derivatives trading program. C.I.A. Agent Beate Nicholson recruits Sean to help her track down financiers manipulating the stock markets. But first they must use their computer skills to thwart a massive cyber-attack against the world's banking system perpetrated using a multi-player gaming platform. Sean and Beate's collaboration leads them to the doorstep of a rogue's gallery of sinister figures, including white-collar jihadist Rahim Delacroix—who wreaks revenge against the infidels that killed his family; and the mysterious John Napoleon, leader of the Protectorate — an environmental syndicate committed to saving the planet by seizing control of the world's resources. Sean and Beate watch in helpless disbelief as terrorists strike Europe. Can they connect all the dots in time to collar the villains before they inflict even more destruction?