Terror's Sword – A Kyle McEwan Novel is a Mystery/Suspense pick #thriller #suspense #giveaway
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    • Aug 16, 2022
    • 5 min read

Terror's Sword – A Kyle McEwan Novel is a Mystery/Suspense pick #thriller #suspense #giveaway



Title: TERROR’S SWORD – A Kyle McEwan Novel


Author: Kevin Kuhens


Genre: Fiction – Thriller (mystery suspense espionage thriller)


Book Blurb:

Murders.


Kidnappings.


A weapon of mass destruction.


Target: America.

Can one man stop them all?


A terrorist known only by the nom de guerre “Terror’s Sword” is barreling toward the US to attack it with an undetermined WMD. As millions of his citizens face certain death, the desperate president unleashes the last measure America’s chief executives use when conventional military and intelligence methods fail to eliminate national security threats — elite counterterrorism case officer Kyle McEwan. His mission: intercept and thwart the terror mastermind by any means necessary.


McEwan’s blistering international pursuit links scores of murders and kidnappings. He unmasks Terror’s Sword and identifies the deadly weapon but America’s greatest scientific minds — confounded by the genetically engineered bioagent — are powerless to develop a counteracting medical solution. With the fate of America and the entire world in McEwan’s hands and the terrorist on the verge of striking, can McEwan unravel the conspiracy in time and prevent an apocalyptic global pandemic?


This true-to-life thriller unveils the bureaucratic and political machinations that test McEwan’s courage and perseverance and vividly depicts the extreme measures he must take to defeat the bioterror threat.


Excerpt:

SHIELDED BY DARKNESS, Ahmed Mansour stole into the American University of Beirut Medical Center. Arriving at his office, he entered and threw the deadbolt, locking himself inside. Despite offering no real protection, the paper-thin walls might buy him enough time to achieve a single goal: living long enough to expose the conspiracy.


Mansour’s hypervigilant ears detected squeaky leather soles creeping to a stop outside his office. A loud rap on the door’s opaque glass window sent him burrowing beneath his desk. Stifling cries, he curled into a ball, waiting, seconds ticking away. He stole fleeting glances at his watch as a minute elapsed, then two. Nothing. Inhaling deeply, Mansour swallowed and peeked around the desk.


A misshapen face, pressed tightly against the frosted window, cast a roving whale’s eye toward Mansour’s hidey-hole.


The doorknob creaked slowly, turned partway, then stopped. Panic raced through his veins—every nerve in Mansour’s body fired simultaneously, waves of nausea roiling over him. The door rattled violently in its frame, squeezing the air out of Mansour’s lungs and gripping his heart. Trapped inside his stockade, death seemed seconds off.


The anonymous assailant, thwarted by the engaged deadbolt, muttered a curse and kicked the door vigorously. Slamming a fist into a wall, the stalker abandoned his mission.


Mansour remained stock-still after the footsteps vanished, the only sound in his ears the pounding of his heart. He controlled his breathing; his lungs filled, returning his heart rate to normal. They are here looking for me!


Mansour weighed the odds his hunter would revisit his office against the dangers of executing his plan in public. He concluded he would find safety among the old men munching pistachio nuts and playing backgammon down at the Beirut waterfront. Wiping perspiration beads from his upper lip, Mansour tiptoed to the door and placed an ear against the window. Silence. Grasping the knob and turning it, he pulled the door open a crack and glanced at the ceiling security mirror. Corridor empty.


He squeezed through the narrow gap into the hallway. Clicking the door shut softly, he locked it with a deft flick of his wrist then pocketed the keys. Tiptoeing to a stairwell, he hurried down the steps to the bottom landing. Dropping to a knee, he feigned tying a shoelace, a ploy to smoke out tails. None.


Mansour straightened up and crossed the medical center lobby in four long strides, leaning so hard into the exit door it banged loudly against the outer wall. No one seemed to notice. Moving swiftly past an ancient banyan tree and a guard shack, he hustled up to Abdel Aziz Street. Balancing on the curb, he looked to his left and right, then scooted over to the sidewalk. Turning toward the main campus, he melted in with students arriving for classes.


The bespectacled Mansour caught himself continuously twisting his head and darting his eyes. Slowing his pace, he lifted his eyeglasses and dabbed the trickling rivers of sweat from his face and neck with a handkerchief. Scouring the cars parked two- and three-deep on Bliss Street, a movement in the bright early sunlight caught his eye. Young man on cell phone—cutting and weaving through cars. Sunglasses—cannot read his eyes. Heading toward me!


Mansour turned abruptly through the main campus stone entrance as the college hall tower bell tolled the hour: seven o’clock. A sharp glance over his shoulder revealed the young man entering the university grounds several paces behind. Alarm bells clanging, Mansour stopped to study the terraced green slopes and jasmine trees highlighted by rays of sunshine.


The man, chatting animatedly on his cell phone, walked by without a glimmer of interest.


Mansour resumed his expedition to the Mediterranean waterfront. Passing through the Avenue de Paris pedestrian gate, safely bolstered by other commuters, he relaxed. Retrieving a prepaid disposable cell phone from his pocket, he dialed a memorized number; the call connected after a short delay. Several agonizingly long rings later, a mechanical voice answered, “Leave a message after the tone.”


Concentrating on leaving his message, Mansour did not see the looming threat until it was too late. Barreling toward him was his imagined young stalker from before, now sans sunglasses, his eyes burning with malevolent intensity. Mansour was paralyzed, his sixth sense screaming, “Flee!” but his feet remained glued to the asphalt, causing him to miss the second threat—a delivery van skidding to a stop. Escape route blocked, he was easy prey for two hooded men leaping out of the side door. Strong hands seized Mansour’s flailing arms, dragging him to the van. A shoulder launched into his back, driving him through the door opening. The cell phone flew from his hand, skittering across the steel floorboard. Multiple fists pummeled his face, crumpling orbital bones. Innumerable punches savaged his stomach, kidneys, and liver.


Ahmed Mansour’s world disintegrated into a mass of searing pain and blackness.


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What makes your featured book a must-read?


Terror's Sword provides an authentic look inside an international investigation of a terror mastermind en route to attack America with a deadly bioweapon. This hard-hitting and technically accurate thriller reveals true-to-life efforts by those unraveling the conspiracy. While fictional, Terror’s Sword depicts a real global threat and showcases the efforts of unsung heroes whose actions rarely see the light of day. No matter which genre you prefer, it is a must-read for everyone who enjoys a fast-paced harrowing plot that overflows with explosive action and graphic detail.


Giveaway –


Enter to win a $45 Amazon US or Amazon Canada gift card



Open Internationally. You must have an active Amazon US or CA account to win.


Runs August 9 – August 18, 2022.


Winner will be drawn on August 19, 2022.



Author Biography:



The ability of world governments to address bioterrorism and other dangers cannot be achieved without these dedicated men and women and their efforts are rarely disclosed to the public eye. I wrote Terror’s Sword to provide readers a behind-the-scenes look inside a realistic bioweapon threat and what committed public servants risk to protect their fellow citizens.


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