by David Bruns
Our first thank-you goes out to the Naval Academy parent who unknowingly launched two writing careers.
For our first two novels, Weapons of Mass Deception and Jihadi Apprentice, released in 2015 and 2016, we didn’t even bother looking for an agent. Instead, we crowdfunded and independently published them to build a readership. Our first forays into publishing yielded modest results. We sold a few thousand copies and garnered dozens of kind reviews that compared our storytelling to “early Clancy,” which is the highest possible praise, in our opinion.
Our second thank-you is for all those early supporters. They are too numerous to list here, but if you can find a print edition of our early novels, we thanked them all by name.
Along our path in independent publishing, we worked with some true professionals to produce the best possible work product in all forms: digital, hardcover, paperback, and audio. Thanks to Sarah Kolb-Williams, our editor; Steven Novak for his fabulous covers; John Hamilton, fellow writer and our photographer; audiobook narrators Aimee Kuzenski and Clay Lomakayu, and our team of technical experts and beta/advance readers: Jennifer Schumacher, Chris Pourteau, Pete and Cami Bruns, Maria Lenartowicz, Doug Baden (West Point ’88), Dr. James Densley, Charly Salonius-Pasternak, Jackie Olson, Ed Wallin, Shena Crowe, Shemi Hart, Will Swardstrom, Caleb Lang, Bob Mayer (West Point ’81), and Steve Konkoly (USNA ’93).
There are a few local champions who really assisted us in our early marketing efforts. These include fellow USNA grads Chip Sharratt (’74), Alex Plechash (’75), and Chris Bentley (’79), as well as Mike Farley (West Point ’88). Also, a big thanks to WCCO radio hosts Roshini Rajkumar and Al Malmberg.
Before we even finished writing the novel that eventually became Rules of Engagement, we decided to see if we could interest a major publishing house in our little story. Once again, our connection to the US Naval Academy paid off as fellow author Rick Campbell introduced us to his agent, John Talbot of the Talbot Fortune Agency.
John had a plan for us from the moment we signed with him, and he worked tirelessly to get our manuscript in front of the right editors. To our good fortune, Keith Kahla, editor at St. Martin’s Press, saw a diamond in the rough and gave us this chance.
We want to especially thank John and Keith for all the support they’ve given us as we worked through the final draft of Rules of Engagement.
And that brings us to family, the center of our village of thanks. For David, that includes parents Dick and Regina Bruns, sister Jenny and brother Pete, daughter Cate, and son Alex, who suffered through shooting and producing videos for two Kickstarter campaigns. J. R. would like to thank his mother Pam, brother Doug, and sister-in-law Jackie.
Finally, our wives gave us lots of room to pursue this writing dream and we are grateful beyond words to have their support. All the hours spent in story meetings, research, writing, editing, and everything else—it’s finally paid off.
Thank you, Christine and Melissa.
If you’ve read this far, the role that the US Navy has played in our lives is obvious. We are privileged to have attended the finest service academy in the world and have served our country in the finest navy on the planet. It is no exaggeration to say that without the Naval Academy, this book would not exist.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS
Rules of Engagement ends on a somber note with the burial of Captain Brendan McHugh. If you think it was tough for you to read… trust us, as the authors, it gutted us to write that scene.
We’ve been writing about Brendan and Liz Soroush and Don Riley for over five years now and ending his character was like saying goodbye to an old friend. Tears were shed—and we’re not too proud to admit it. (And that’s all we’re going to say about that.)
But if Brendan’s death is the culmination of a story arc that started three books ago, then the introduction of the three midshipmen characters was a beginning of sorts, a new story arc that we intend to carry into many future novels.
Everett, Goodwin, and Ramirez will carry the torch of service to their country with another thriller from St. Martin’s Press in 2020. They’ll leave the Academy, get commissioned as junior officers, and continue their adventures, both separately and as a team. As creators, we look forward to taking that journey with them.
We write under the nickname of the Two Navy Guys. Our brand of thriller is the kind of books we grew up reading but adapted for our modern era. We call our novels “national security thrillers” because today’s threats are no longer just military in nature. (If that thought keeps you up at night, then welcome to our world.)
We populate our work with characters from the CIA, NSA, FBI, or any of the other alphabet soup of agencies and allies that work together to protect our world and our values from harm.
Many of our readers have been with us since Weapons of Mass Deception, our very first novel in 2015. If that describes you, then know that your support has meant everything to us.
On the other hand, if Rules of Engagement is your first contact with the Two Navy Guys, then visit us at www.twonavyguys.com and start reading from the beginning, way back when young Brendan McHugh was a newly minted ensign from the United States Naval Academy.
Thanks for being a reader –
David and JR AKA The Two Navy Guys
ALSO BY DAVID BRUNS AND J. R. OLSON
NOVELS
Weapons of Mass Deception
Jihadi Apprentice
SHORT STORIES
“Death of a Pawn”
“Battle Djinni”
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
DAVID BRUNS (left) and J. R. OLSON (right) are both graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy. Bruns was an officer in the submarine force, before leaving the Navy for corporate life. He’s now a full-time writer and lives in Shakopee, Minnesota. Olson spent more than twenty years as an intelligence officer in the Navy, retiring as a commander. He now teaches college courses in intelligence, weapons of mass destruction, and counterterrorism. He lives in Webster, Minnesota. You can sign up for email updates here.
Sign up for email updates on J. R. Olson here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
The Americans
Other Characters
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
&
nbsp; Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Acknowledgments
A Note from the Authors
Also by David Bruns and J. R. Olson
About the Authors
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. Copyright © 2019 by David Bruns and J. R. Olson. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Pete Garceau
Cover photographs: radar © Maxiphoto / Getty Images; submarine © Istock / Alxpin; texture © Istock.com / Kyoshino
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Bruns, David, 1966– author. | Olson, J. R., author.
Title: Rules of engagement / David Bruns and J. R. Olson.
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019001793 | ISBN 9781250200310 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250200327 (ebook)
Subjects: | GSAFD: Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3602.R859 R85 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/201900193
eISBN 9781250200327
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: June 2019