"War Hawk"

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. In addition to his New York Times bestselling collaborations with Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy, Grant Blackwood is the author of three novels featuring Briggs Tanner. A U.S. Navy veteran, Blackwood spent three years as an operations specialist and a pilot rescue swimmer.

Rollins applied the Page 69 Test to their new novel, War Hawk, and reported the following:

From page 69:

After a couple more drinks with Frank Ballenger at the bar, Tucker headed back to his motel. It had rained while he had been chatting with Frank, leaving the night air muggy and smelling of warm asphalt. Kane sat on the passenger seat, his muzzle resting on the doorframe of the open window.

Tucker sped west away from the traffic of the city, then turned south along the edge of the massive swamp that backed up to his motel. His headlights swept over cypress branches gauzed in Spanish moss. Unseen insects ticked against his windshield.
….

Suddenly the SUV’s radio blared to life, startling him, making him swerve slightly on the lonely road “…Evening, folks, you’re listenin’ to WTKI, Huntsville talk radio…”

Scowling, Tucker turned off the radio. As he did so, the engine sputtered, the dashboard lights flickered, and the vehicle began to slow.

Uh-oh…

Kane’s head pivoted toward him. The shepherd let out a whine of complaint.

“Hey, it’s not me.”

The radio came on again, then went silent. The windshield wipers began to flap.

What the hell…

Tucker steered the SUV onto the shoulder—and just in time. With a double cough, the engine died.

He sighed and patted Kane’s flank. “Buddy, it’s finally happened. We’re being abducted by aliens.”

As a veterinarian, I’ve always loved folding animals into my stories, whether it be an orphaned jaguar cub bonded to its caretaker or a search-and-rescue shepherd who proves that retirement has not dulled its sharp nose.

In my latest thriller, War Hawk, a military working dog named Kane and his Army Ranger handler, Tucker Wayne, are on the road together, striving to escape demons of their past—until that same past comes crashing down upon their doorstep. A former girlfriend, desperate and scared, arrives with a young boy in tow. The pair is being hunted by shadowy forces and seeks the unique skills of this ranger and his four-legged companion to survive.

The first clues to the shocking truth lead Tucker and Kane to the Alabama swamps, where the two begin to discover the scope of the dangers ahead, a threat that will test both their skills and their deep bond.

Visit the official James Rollins website and Grant Blackwood's website.

--Marshal Zeringue