Caribbean Counterstrike
It’s the deadliest nerve gas ever made, and it has fallen into the hands of a murderous Caribbean drug cult!
The criminal 252 Syndicate has developed a game-changing battlefield nerve gas in a secret lab hidden on an oil rig servicing ship. But the ship has been caught in a drug war in a Caribbean country, seized by one of the most vicious drug cartels in existence, and held for ransom.
Alerted afterward by a defecting 252 member, the U.S. government has no good options. Despite the peril of leaving a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of psychotics, it cannot mount an airstrike or an armed raid on a nominally friendly country. Additionally, there is no time for diplomatic action that preserves the secret of the new weapon—the 252s will launch their own attack in five days.
The best of the bad options is a covert raid led by young Coast Guard Officer Ben Wyporek and his crew aboard the newly-upgraded, stealth-equipped Cutter Kauai. However, Ben’s last lethal encounter with the 252s has cured his hunger for glory, and he has found his soulmate in the beautiful genius DIA analyst Victoria Carpenter.
It is yet another deadly race against the 252s to save the world, and now Ben and Victoria have everything to lose.
BUY Caribbean Counterstrike
E-Books
BUY Caribbean Counterstrike
Paperbacks
BUY Caribbean Counterstrike
Editorial Reviews
Self-Publishing Review:
Fresh off their lethal drug ring battle a few months earlier, the cutter has been quietly promoted to perform sensitive missions under the Director of National Intelligence, thanks to its elite crew. Their latest assignment brings them into even more dangerous waters, where they hunt down a murderous drug cartel boasting biochemical weapons, along with an international crime syndicate that knows how to hold a grudge. The rugged crew returns for more deadly sea chases and shootouts, though there is an added layer of cloak-and-dagger espionage in this latest installment.
Hochsmann’s meticulous prose continues to hum with lived experience and authenticity, while the relationships onboard the Kauai only deepen in complexity. Despite the patriotic nature of this swashbuckling series, there are also moments of brutal honesty about the challenges and issues within the US military – from unwieldy chains of command to the expendable nature of dedicated servicemen. The author’s ability to craft a blockbuster story while weaving in critical themes of trust, honor, and independence is a testament to his nuanced perspective on the complex subject matter… this gripping maritime thriller delivers in every way.
Encarta Publishing:
With plenty of challenging missions, including the face-off with the drug cartel and crime syndicate, Caribbean Counterstrike takes readers on a wild ride. The story also comes with a sweet subplot as Ben and Victoria try to start a relationship while dealing with the constant distance and danger they often face.
Caribbean Counterstrike is the perfect follow-up to the series’ first novel Dagger Quest. Filled with action and adventure, mixed with a little romance, it is an ideal read for anyone that wants to escape from their daily lives for a few hours.
OSUV Carlos Rojas, under Tow, Isla de Barbello Harbor, Honduras
02:53 EDT, 6 April
Ben
Like Sam over on Kauai, Ben had to suppress the urge to jump every time lightning flashed out on the starboard side. The rain had passed entirely, and visibility was nearly perfect. Ben and Lopez had nothing to occupy their attention as the ships slowly moved out of the harbor, unlike their shipmates on the other vessel. He was thoroughly frightened and deduced Lopez was in the same state.
“So, Lope, when we were debriefing after the last one, Captain Mercier told us you would get some ‘special’ attention over at Law Enforcement School. Did that come to pass?”
“Oh, yeah, sir. While everyone else in my class was living the good life in Charleston every weekend, I was getting advanced small arms and personal defense training shoved up my ass!”
“I hear ya. I got the same thing up in Quantico. Like to freeze my ass off on that small arms range all day.” He winced again in the darkness as a long series of lightning flashes strobed across the starboard side. It was actually quite beautiful, the bolts weaving up from the surface of the Caribbean and then winding through and lighting up the clouds from within. He wished he could enjoy the view. “Quite a show.”
“No shit, sir,” Lopez said in a measured voice. “I’d prefer to see this movie in the next showing, though.”
Ben laughed, then looked forward in alarm as a searchlight lanced into the darkness from the promontory, followed by the sound of gunfire. “Shit!” He keyed his radio. “Alpha-Four, One, light off now!”
“Alpha-One, Four, roger, lighting off!” Brown replied.
As the first flare burst off to starboard, a muffled whirring sounded deep in the hull, followed by the rattling rumble from the smokestacks as the ship’s generator fired. The main engines needed a lot more power to turn over than the batteries could provide, so step one was getting a generator running.
As the generator’s noise topped out, a second, louder whirring came up from the engine spaces. Ben’s heart sank when the initial rumble of the large engine died away. A second main engine start sequence sounded a few seconds later, with the same result. Ben was about to key his radio, then thought better of it. An inquiry at this point would just distract Brown from his work. The sound of automatic gunfire came up from the well deck—the SEALs joined the fight with their heavy machine guns.
The fight between Kauai and the promontory was heating up, and Ben could hear the ‘thumps’ every half-second from the main gun and see the tracers streak across the water. Williams was doing a good job keeping the pressure on. So far, nothing more than small arms fire was being thrown their way. Suddenly, a flash followed by an enormous boom came from Kauai, and the main gun ceased firing. “Shit, shit, shit!” Ben exclaimed, pounding his fist on the helm console. After a few seconds, the rapid thumping and twenty-five-millimeter tracer streaks returned, and Ben let out an enormous sigh of relief.
Ben was about to comment on a second flare that had appeared almost overhead when an enormous blast threw him onto the deck. One moment he was standing there; the next, he was flat on his face, covered in broken glass. “Lope!”
“Here, sir! I’m OK!” the young petty officer said as he got to his knees.
Ben looked behind the Bridge. The rocket had apparently hit the port smokestack, which was now shredded. He had just gotten to his feet and pulled Lopez up when the second rocket hit the foredeck. This time, the forward windows shattered, and the two men were thrown down again. Worse, shrapnel from the explosion sliced through some outer strands of the towing hawser. Given the enormous strain the line was under, there could be only one result: the cascade of individual strand failures in milliseconds merged into one loud “Bang.” The two new ends shot away from the breakpoint, one slamming into Carlos Rojas’s superstructure with a loud “clang” and the other falling into the water just short of Kauai.
Ben looked forward in shock as they got to their feet again, then keyed his tactical radio. “Alpha-Four, Alpha-One, we just lost the towline. We need main engines now, or we’re dead!”
“Almost there, sir! We’ve fixed the problem and are closing up now!”
“For God’s sake, hurry!”