This book describes modern piracy as it is and the private industry methods that are already used to combat piracy. I've been working on this for nearly a year and I know it isn't proper to send queries until the manuscript is polished, but this subject is so timely that I've decided to submit the novel with the first 10 chapters polished and the later chapters still in advanced draft form. To be clear; the story is there but I am still fleshing out the second part.
This is an 8-page synopsis. *text in italics are spoilers that will not become very clear to the reader until the story closes in on the ending.
In the story's first chapter Navy Lieutenant Finn Connor and his close friend, Chief Petty Officer Ricky Ricardo have fallen from a helicopter that shook violently after being hit with a rocket propelled grenade. The helicopter escapes but the two are alone and under attack from below on a steep mountain side. Ricky is killed after a 10-hour stand-off and it is looking bleak for Finn. When it seems hopeless he witnesses the sudden devastation below him from an aircraft gunship circling two miles overhead followed by F-16 bombing runs. He doesn't know that the bombs are the outlawed Napalm fire bombs. He assumes it is a thick smoke screen created to cover his successful retreat and helicopter rescue.
Meanwhile his best friend, Doug Justice made it back safely and is watching the situation unfold on infrared monitors with images provided by Predator drones. When Doug overhears a conversation that identifies the bombs as MK-77 fire bombs he is stunned that they were dropped on a village at the bottom of the mountain. He starts making phone calls immediately to report the situation and divert any other similar attacks, but his phone call is intercepted by the senior Navy Special Forces commander, Admiral Drew Biffle. Doug is certain that the Admiral will be just as outraged as he but he is bewildered when the admiral threatens him if he continues to be so vocal.
Doug doesn't know that the admiral has been using his high rank and influence to plan specific military operations in Afghanistan to destroy his competition in the drug trade. The small Afghan village that was attacked during Finn's extraction was home to a family with significant participation in the heroin trade.
This situation is too much for Doug. It drains all motivation and he decides right then that he will not re-enlist but will instead use his leverage for orders to Singapore to serve out the remaining 2 years of his contract. Admiral Biffle was very happy to approve the assignment.
At Ricky's funeral Admiral Biffle introduces his pretty and much younger girlfriend, Lynn who was attending graduate school with a concentration in Finance. The others don't know that the actual spelling of her name is Lin, pronounced the same as Lynn. After graduation she will be promoted to be head of finances for Jemaah Islamiyah, an actual militant Islamic organization dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic State in Southeast Asia that would incorporate Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, Singapore and Brunei. The couple's plan is for her to return to Indonesia and embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from the terror group and disappear with Admiral Biffle at the end of the story.
Finn is still committed to serving his country until his wife is killed in an auto accident. He knew that his loss of confidence and his gloomy attitude would put his team members in jeopardy, so he made the difficult decision to leave the service and request assignment to Singapore with Doug, his long-time friend. Admiral Biffle strongly urges Finn to stay away from Singapore and to take orders that would surely put him on track for a command position - a golden boy. He flattered Finn with high praise and promised to be a strong mentor and advocate. After honoring his promise to the admiral that he would think it over, Finn still insists on Singapore. Admiral Biffle gives in to his request but is strangely hostile to Finn's choice.
The Admirals strong position against Finn's assignment in Singapore is important to the story because the admiral is also profiting from piracy in the MalaccaStrait with Singapore at the southern entrance. He knows that Finn's personality would ensure an interruption of the cash cow he is enjoying with a partnership with Jemaah Islamiyah.
**This novel stands on its own but the second of a series will describe how Biffle will use his new-found wealth to mastermind a social and economic attack on the United States.