(The Jaguar -Working Title)
1992 – A Panamanian drug cartel mistakes Major Smithson James (Smitty), an Air Force Reserve officer on temporary training for the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), public affair office for another American–an unorthodox but devoted, DEA agent Jameson Smith.
The United States’ War on Drugs effort in Central and South America barely affected the amount of heroin and cocaine that made its way north. The drug warriors were easily spotted, avoided or killed, if not by cartel members, by the paramilitaries.
Code Name: Smith and Jones was a covert operation, consisting of one well-qualified agent: a Marine major from Force Reconnaissance (RECON), someone who could hide, blend in and survive the jungle. That someone was Jameson Smith, though arrogant and insubordinate, was the perfect weapon–stealthy, ruthless and tough. The buzz around the mission said the man was CIA. Hardly, the CIA had said, this one doesn’t report to anyone; whoever owned him just let him off the leash.
The U.S. drug warriors knew the black op existed, although they didn’t know the name of the “super” soldier or the CIA “special” agent, they knew he hadn’t been sent to replace them. The idea was so ridiculous that most higher-ups dismissed the covert op entirely. “Let this fool get himself killed on his own out there.” Some just said, “The jungle is a scary place.” Some intelligence officers hinted he was there for misdirection, for distracting the cartels, while the real soldiers took them down. Eventually even the intelligence officers lost interest in one man in the jungle or rainforest God-knows-where on the continent.
However, Smith’s early successes made them eat their words. A factory destroyed here and there. A distribution center and organization were frozen, its people afraid to go out at night. There was a lot of product with no place to go. Billions of dollars lost. For the moment…
Then later, the cartels acted as if nothing was wrong, they produced even more product, invented new distribution systems and made faster deliveries while adding more muscle and surveillance. They put more pressure on their “spies” to root out this superman; they’d show him how vulnerable he was. There wasn’t a list. They had no name to add to one. Well, they did…or thought they did. As much as anyone could trust a spy or traitor.
It was then that Jameson Smith seemed to have disappeared. Some thought he was a real ghost–like a dead man. Cartel squabbles and sabotage exploits were rarely seen or heard; it was as if Superman just went home.
He had been destroying the drug “machine” in Central America almost single-handedly and had started his path of destruction in South America. He had discovered a few “leaks” and eliminated them, but there remained enough still at large to compromise organized raids by the authorities. With the jungle getting crowded with rebels, paramilitary as well as cartel members, he went quiet and invisible, using all of the surveillance techniques in his playbook to spy on the drug operations and trafficking with hands off for the moment. Everything was going fine, until…
The cartel’s security forces in Panama City kidnapped and tortured Smithson James (aka Smitty) to find out how he had sabotaged so many of their efforts to produce and move product. Coincidentally the two bore a striking resemblance to each other. Both men were very fit, above average height and had blond hair with a darker blond beard. And, the obvious; their names were similar. The Cartels’ informants were sure of the name (or names now) they had.
A victim of human trafficking, a female captive, thrown into the mix provides James the means for them to escape into the jungle. At first, James has to survive and heal, but the people who take him in and the events that follow change him. While his wounds are bad, his mind is worse.
James has not only forgotten who he is, but he believes he is that DEA agent. His captors, thinking “Smitty” had not survived his wounds and the jungle, go back to their deadly routine of terrorizing and enslaving local villages to produce product and distribute it through Mexico to the United States. With the help of the other captive and her unusually resourceful village, James heals and regains his strength.
To the surprise of the drug cartels, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and United States Southern Command, James surfaces from the dead as a were-jaguar and unleashes even more ferocious and terrifying attacks on the cartels. And, Smith sits back and watches. For a while…
To USSOUTHCOM, Smithson James is a deserter. To the DEA, a rogue agent, and to the CIA a threat to its control of the region. To the traitors in the program, he is a dangerous threat and must be killed.
James is a mystery to all. How can he seek and destroy every few days? Who or what is helping him? It seems he has done the impossible, he has terrified the Cartels and that’s a tough thing to do.
There’s romance, too, with strong and capable beautiful women, proud indigenous people, enslaved entire villages, and well, a real jaguar.
Looking for something a little different? I have started work on my new novel, working title, The Jaguar, an adventure, suspense thriller. Superstition plays an unusual role that involves the drug interdiction agencies, human trafficking, kidnappers, revolutionaries and drug cartels.
Lots of explosions, fire and body counts. All with a little horror thrown in–for the villains. The characters, agencies, the drug manufacturing and distribution situations are real.
The Jaguar is a work in progress. I plan to post passages as I write them, and hopefully publish by the end of this year.
Also, please check out my debut novel, In Makr’s Shadow. Available now through most any online bookstore.
***
Humans by themselves could only fail.
An evolving artificial intelligence calling itself Makr is engaged to run the planet’s resources, saving humankind the trouble.
The enlightened people, some 90 percent of the population, have chosen to live a fantasy life, never having to worry about discomfort or pain, or being bored, or being lonely, or whatever.
Think about it and it’s yours. Even if you don’t consciously think about it, it will be yours because you need it to be. Who cares if it all isn’t real? If it feels real, then it is.
Reality doesn’t matter in PerSoc, a perfect society.
The ten percent of the population that’s left are those who can’t live a lie and choose to live Outside in the dark reality without Makr’s help.
Harry Bolls proves that one unique man makes a difference, by seeing through illusion, he sees reality however stark. For those Outside, he is a stranger who comes from Inside, searching for lost memories and thus, seeking his true identity–In Makr’s Shadow.
But there is more to Harry than he knows himself. His presence will unite a splintered society, help them win an unwinnable war, and show them their unusual future.
If you purchase In Makr’s Shadow (Harry’s Reality) from Smashwords.com, you can find any format to suit your needs, but you’ll have to go through a different process: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view… or buy from http://www.amazon.com/Harrys-Reality-… http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harry… http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo…
In Makr’s Shadow is available wherever ebooks are sold, including those links above. And, not to worry, there are at least two more Harry Bolls novels to look forward to in the Trilogy.
Shaw's Reality 