From the author of Planetside, a Best Book of 2018 (Library Journal)
A military legend is caught in the web between alien intrigue and human subterfuge...
Following his mission on Cappa, Colonel Carl Butler returns to a mixed reception. To some he is a do-or-die war hero. To the other half of the galaxy heâs a pariah. Forced into retirement, he has resettled on Talca Four where heâs now Deputy VP of Corporate Security, protecting a high-tech military company on the corporate battlefieldâat least, thatâs what the job description says. Really, heâs just there to impress clients and investors. Itâs all relatively low riskâuntil heâs entrusted with new orders. A breach of a competitorâs computer network has Butlerâs superiors feeling every bit as vulnerable. They need Butler to find who did it, how, and why no oneâs taken credit for the ingenious attack.
As accustomed as Butler is to the reality of wargamesâvirtual and otherwiseâthis one screams something louder than a simple hack. Because no sooner does he start digging when his first contact is murdered, the death somehow kept secret from the media. As a prime suspect, he canât shake the sensation heâs being watched...or finally succumbing to the stress of his past. Paranoid delusion or dangerous reality, Butler might be onto something much deeper than anyone imagined. But thatâs where Butler thrives.
If he hasnât signed his own death warrant.
Michael Mammay is a retired army officer and a graduate of the United States Military Academy. He has a masterâs degree in military history and is a veteran of more wars than he cares to remember. He lives with his wife in Georgia. He is the author of the Planetside series, The Misfit Soldier, The Weight of Command, and Generation Ship.