Kimball didn’t hesitate. “The intelligence community now provides up-to-date briefings to American hotel corporations in the manner we advise the airline industry. We are looking at expanding that relationship through Homeland Security, the FBI, and other agencies.”
“Without the Appropriations Subcommittee vote for approval?”
“We’ve studied the situation and determined there is no need for additional appropriations. Therefore the process is free of the subcommittee’s purview.”
“It’s already begun?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“An hour after Senator Moakley Davidson walked out.”
The news anchor showed uncharacteristic surprise. “And Davidson’s reaction?”
“Senator Davidson has been informed,” Kimball plainly stated.
“He must have been livid.”
“You’ll have to ask him,” the White House national security advisor said, showing some delight.
True to Kimball’s on-air revelation, Bob Heath had told Dan Reilly that the pipeline was officially open. His work in Brussels and his testimony on Capitol Hill had been the deciding factors.
In the two weeks since, reports began to flow openly. Reilly elevated a hotel in Morocco to Red status. He hired Donald Klugo to supervise the upgrades and bolster the security team.
As the MSNBC anchor thanked Pierce Kimball and teased the next segment, Reilly read a new intelligence report in his Chicago office. It was a chilling intercept from the NSA, via Syria. Immediate and frightening. He printed out the advisory and ran down the hall, first to inform his domestic counterpart, then to call an emergency crisis meeting. It was all too familiar to Reilly. He’d written a report for the State Department on the very subject. Some of it word for word.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
RED Hotel is a thriller about the global hotel industry in a challenging and dangerous world. Gary and I used many fictional characters and incidents which occurred in the forty years I worked with Marriott and the twenty-two years I was President and Managing Director of the International Lodging Marriott. During that time I founded and led the Marriott International crisis committee.
I am grateful to the individuals listed below who made our successes possible, who influenced, mentored, guided me, and played key roles in making this novel possible. Several of them might find themselves in this creative work.
Linda Bartlett, Yvonne Bean, Katie Bianchi, Harry Bosschaart, Stan Bruns, Nuala Cashman, Paul Cerula, Weili Cheng, Don Cleary, Mark Conklin, JoAnn Corday, Henry Davies, Victoria Dolan, Roger Dow, Brenda Durham, Ron Eastman, Joel Eisemann, June Farrell, Franz Ferschke, Jim Fisher, Fern Fitzgerald, Paul Foskey, Geoff Garside, Robert Gaymer-Jones, Jurgen Giesbert, Marc Gulliver, Tracy Halphide, Debbie Harrison, Pat Henderson, Jeff Holdaway, Andrew Houghton, Ed Hubennette, Gary Hurst, Beth Irons, Andrea Jones, Pam Jones, Simon Jongert, Nihad Kattan, Kevin Kearney, Chuck Kelley, Karl Kilburg, Kevin Kimball, Tuni Kyi, Buck Laird, Henry Lee, Mike Mackie, Kathleen Matthews, Alastair McPhail, Scott Melby, Raj Menon, Anton Najjar, JP Nel, Scott Neumayer, John Northen, Jim O’Hern, Alan Orlob, Manuel Oview, Jim Pilarski, Belinda Pote, Barbara Powell, Reiner Sachau, Mark Satterfield, Bill Shaw, Brenda Shelton, Craig Smith, Brad Snyder, Arne Sorenson, Alex Stadlin, Jim Stamas, Peter Steger, Pat Stocker, Susan Thronson, Chip Stuckmeyer, Myron Walker, Bob Watts, Hank Weigle, Steve Weisz, Carl Wilson, and Glenn Wilson.
And finally, there are simply no words to describe my enduring thanks to J. W. Marriott.
Several people encouraged me to take a leap from my business book, You Can’t Lead with Your Feet on the Desk, to writing a novel. These people include my coauthor, Gary Grossman, Bruce Feirstein, June Farrell, Pam Jones, Pam Policano, Andy Policano, and my wife, Michela Fuller. Thank you all very much.
ED FULLER
First and foremost, thanks to my wonderful collaborator, Ed Fuller. We’ve had an amazing time working together, with RED Hotel the first in a new international thriller series.
Special thanks to author, screenwriter, columnist Bruce Feirstein for introducing us. Additional thanks to our agent, Carol Mann, the Carol Mann Agency; our publicist, Meryl Moss and her team at Meryl Moss Media; my wife, Helene Seifer for her ongoing support and understanding; Sasha, Zach, and Jake Grossman, and friends and associates including my technical advisor, Army veteran Bruce Coons; Vin DiBona, Michael O’Rourke, Nat Segaloff, Sandi Goldfarb, Jeff Greenhawt, RJ Haynes, and Jeffrey Davis.
My additional heartfelt thanks to the members of the International Thriller Writers Association for so strongly supporting the genre and writers, with particular thanks to ThrillerFest Executive Director and author Kimberley Howe, and authors Steve Berry, Daniel Palmer, John Land, and my TV partner in our television series Renegade Writer, master storyteller, best-selling writer, and adventurer W.G. Griffiths.
Finally, thanks to my readers who have supported me through the years with my other thriller series and nonfiction books right through RED Hotel. What a great ride we’re all having together!
GARY GROSSMAN
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
GARY GROSSMAN’S first novel, Executive Actions, propelled him into the world of high-intensity geopolitical thrillers. Executive Treason, Executive Command and Executive Force further tapped Grossman’s experience as a journalist, newspaper columnist, documentary television producer, reporter, media historian, and playwright. In addition to the best-selling series, Grossman delivered again with Old Earth, a geological thriller that spans all of time. The novel has garnered international praise, taking top book honors at festivals in the US and Europe.
Grossman has written for the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Boston Herald American. He covered presidential campaigns for WBZ-TV in Boston, and has produced more than ten thousand television series, specials and documentaries for networks including NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, USA, National Geographic, Food, HGTV, CNBC, Fox News, Discovery, and Discovery Military.
He is a multiple Emmy Award-winning producer. He served as chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the Caucus for Television, Producers, Writers and Directors, and is a member of the International Thriller Writers Association and Military Writers Society of America. He is a trustee at Emerson College and serves on the Boston University Metropolitan College Advisory Board. Grossman has taught at Emerson College, Boston University, USC, and currently teaches at Loyola Marymount University. He is a contributing editor to Media Ethics Magazine.
ED FULLER is a hospitality industry leader, educator, and bestselling author. He is president of Irvine, California-based Laguna Strategic Advisors, a global consortium that provides business consulting services to corporations and governments. Fuller is also director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy Associates Foundation(FBINAA).
Fuller’s forty-year career in the industry was capped by his role as President and Managing Director of Marriott International for twenty-two years. As worldwide chief, he directed and administered corporate expansion with 555 hotels in 73 countries, the creation of 80,000 jobs, $8 billion in annual sales, and the implementation of multiple environmental, philanthropic, and educational initiatives. During that time he oversaw the creation of Marriott International’s Global Security Strategy. His role put him in world hot spots at crucial times, from Tripoli to Cairo, Jakarta to Mumbai, with close contact with domestic and foreign intelligence operations.
Ed Fuller has served on numerous industry, educational, and charity boards. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Orange County (California) Visitor’s Association and a Commissioner for Travel and Tourism for the State of California. He was Trustee of The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, a Boston University trustee, president of the Alumni Association, and Vice Chairman of Boston University’s Board of Overseers. Fuller serves on the Advisory Board for California State University at Fullerton and has been an adjunct professor of Leadership at the University’s College of Hospitality in Pomo
na and San Diego State University. Other board service includes Mind Research in Irvine, CA, Concord Hotels, Merage Investment Group, Safe Kids, and United Way International.
Ed Fuller served as a captain in the US Army and was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for service during missions in Vietnam and Germany.
His colorful and real-world experiences are recounted in his Top-20 bestselling business book, You Can’t Lead with Your Feet on the Desk, published globally in English, Chinese, and Japanese.
Ed Fuller continues to consult on security issues around the world.
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