Charlie Perkins's life seems to be looking up. He is healing well from his lethal gun battle with his nemeses, Glen Ritchey and Chip Lakin, and he has convinced National Security Agency brass that his enhanced brain functions and psionic abilities are legitimate. Why then would he even contemplate the new summons from the alien probe that has dropped down on him like a bad toothache? Curiosity is stronger than his good sense and Charlie can't help but obey the probe's command to "re-enter the unit". He survives his second visit to the probe with only a short stay in the hospital as a result, and it is the opinion of his psychologist and physician that Charlie's abilities are even stronger than they were before. He can't wait to get to work consulting for the U.S. intelligence community. Even before his security clearance comes through, Charlie discovers a spy trying to infiltrate Holloman Air Force Base and when he brings the case to the attention of the FBI in Tucson, Arizona, he inadvertently assists the investigating agent in another completely separate case! The NSA sets Charlie and his best friend, Captain Pete Webber up in a house at Holloman Air Force Base in an effort to insulate Charlie from harm. Charlie falls hard for a local girl who just about makes his life perfect. Charlie is brought in to consult on a variety of potential terrorist acts until a mole at NSA divulges his existence to the Russian FSB who immediately takes action to try to bring Charlie to Moscow. After several attempts have failed to abduct Charlie, the order goes out: successfully abduct him or permanently deprive the U.S. of his services. Charlie is shot down on the street in Las Vegas, Nevada. Quick thinking by his friend, Pete Webber, gives Charlie a remote chance to survive but even if he does, his life will never be the same.
About the Author: Terry L. Shaffer grew up near Oregon City, about twenty miles south of Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Oregon City High School and Clackamas Community College before moving on to Portland State University, majoring in Political Science. Between high school and college, Terry spent four years in the United States Navy, and was assigned duty stations in Long Beach, California, and Naval Intelligence billets in Washington, D.C. and Alameda, California, from where he sailed to the Western Pacific aboard an aircraft carrier and earned both the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. During his college days at Portland State, Terry joined the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department where he was assigned a variety of positions including patrol, detectives and narcotics. He retired in 2000 after twenty-five years' service. After writing thousands of pages of police reports and search warrant affidavits, he likes to say that he has twenty-five years' experience writing in the true crime genre. Terry began his writing career in fiction shortly before he retired and has been at it ever since. He lives full time in his motorhome and divides his time between his home in Colton, Oregon, and various locations in the American Southwest where he spends his time writing and exploring. Terry travels with his miniature Dachshund, Emma, and enjoys off-roading, photography, reading and, of course, writing.