by Jack Mars
Gunner’s hair was longer than his father’s. He wore a black T-shirt with a ticking clock logo on the front. White letters spelled the words ZERO HOUR.
Susan didn’t even bother asking Gunner what that was. She knew all too well that it was a rock band popular with the kids nowadays. They had played a short acoustic set at a party her twin girls had held this past summer at the Malibu house.
She wasn’t going to tell Gunner that, now was she? Not to worry, however. The girls probably would.
“How’s your macaroni, Gunner?” Susan said instead.
The chef had made them all a turkey dinner, with homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, six kinds of vegetables, and macaroni and cheese. He had paired it with two different kinds of wine. God only knew what the dessert was going to be like. As far as Susan was concerned, the White House chef was the best cook on Earth. And Susan had eaten in a lot of restaurants in a lot of places. You might even call her a foodie.
The only thing Gunner had touched so far was the mac and cheese.
“It’s really good,” he said. “I’m a big macaroni eater, and I have to say it’s good.”
Susan nodded. She almost laughed. Gunner, once he got to know you a little better, started to come out of his shell quite a lot. He was going to be a lady killer, if his dad wasn’t careful.
“The chef likes to focus on mac,” Susan said. “That’s a big part of why I hired him. We eat it every day here, pretty much.”
“I do too,” Gunner said. “The best is the one from Velveeta, the one you put in the microwave. The cheese comes in a packet, and you squeeze it out like toothpaste. It’s already mixed. This is good, but that one’s the best.”
“I bet it is,” Susan said. “I’ll have to try it.”
“I’ll bring you some,” Gunner said. Then he glanced back and forth between his father and Susan. “The next time we come.”
Susan looked at Luke. He hadn’t said much so far tonight. He sipped his wine and stared back at her, half a smile on his face. He seemed relaxed, maybe even well rested. He and Gunner had gone Christmas shopping today, Susan knew. Then they played video games at an arcade. Bland, domesticated activities suddenly seemed to agree with the elusive, daring, high-flying Luke Stone.
At least for now.
“Talking about next time, I wonder what you guys are doing for Christmas dinner. My daughters, Michaela and Lauren, are flying in tomorrow. They’re about your age, Gunner, maybe just a little older. I think you’ll like them. Your dad saved Michaela’s life once upon a time, did you know that?”
Gunner shook his head. “No. Dad doesn’t really tell me anything.”
“Well, he’ll have to do better.”
Now Luke did smile. He took another sip of his wine. He looked like a cat who had just swallowed a small yellow bird.
“What’s up with you, Smiley?” Susan said.
Luke shook his head. “It’s nice to be home.”
NOW AVAILABLE!
HOUSE DIVIDED
(A Luke Stone Thriller—Book 7)
“One of the best thrillers I have read this year. The plot is intelligent and will keep you hooked from the beginning. The author did a superb job creating a set of characters who are fully developed and very much enjoyable. I can hardly wait for the sequel.”
--Books and Movie Reviews (re Any Means Necessary)
HOUSE DIVIDED is book #7 in the USA Today bestselling Luke Stone thriller series, which begins with ANY MEANS NECESSARY (Book #1), a free download with over 500 five star reviews!
A passenger jet is attacked in northern Africa by terrorists wielding RPGs, resulting in an enormous loss of life. Yet U.S. intelligence reports this is merely a distraction, a prelude to a worse terror incident.
A cargo ship is pirated off the African coast, and terrorists are puzzled to find in its vast hold just one mysterious crate. It contains a weapon they do not understand—one of vital interest to Al Qaeda. It is a weapon, we learn, that will inflict catastrophic damage on the United States if not stopped in time.
The weapon disappears deep into the heart of Africa, and as all hope seems lost to retrieve it, Luke Stone is summoned. Forced to cross deserts, to enter jungles, Luke and his team embark on a mad race across Africa, on a suicidal mission: to destroy the weapon before it is too late.
A political thriller with non-stop action, dramatic international settings and heart-pounding suspense, HOUSE DIVIDED is book #7 in the bestselling and critically-acclaimed Luke Stone series, an explosive new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.
“Thriller writing at its best. Thriller enthusiasts who relish the precise execution of an international thriller, but who seek the psychological depth and believability of a protagonist who simultaneously fields professional and personal life challenges, will find this a gripping story that’s hard to put down.”
—Midwest Book Review (re Any Means Necessary)
Book #8 in the Luke Stone series will be available soon.
HOUSE DIVIDED
(A Luke Stone Thriller—Book 7)
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
PRIMARY TARGET
The Forging of Luke Stone—Book #1 (an Action Thriller)
Join the email list and please let me know if you would like to read PRIMARY TARGET. The first 100 readers to email me will get a free copy!
“One of the best thrillers I have read this year.”
--Books and Movie Reviews (re Any Means Necessary)
In the much-anticipated debut of a new series by #1 bestseller Jack Mars, when elite Delta Force soldier Luke Stone, 29, joins a secretive government agency, he is dispatched on the mission of a lifetime: a whirlwind race across Europe and the Mid-East to save the President’s daughter before she is beheaded by terrorists.
In PRIMARY TARGET (Book #1), we see the forging of one of the world’s toughest—and most lethal—soldiers: Luke Stone. A 29 year old veteran who has seen enough battle to last a lifetime, Luke is tapped by the Special Response Team, a secretive new FBI agency (led by his mentor Don Morris) to tackle the most high-stake terrorism operations in the world.
Luke, still haunted by his wartime past and newly married to an expecting Becca, is dispatched on a mission to Iraq, with his new partner Ed Newsam, to bring in a rogue American contractor. But what begins as a routine mission mushrooms into something much, much bigger.
When the President’s teenage daughter, kidnapped in Europe, is ransomed by terrorists, Luke may be the only one in the world who can save her before it is too late.
PRIMARY TARGET is an un-putdownable military thriller, a wild action ride that will leave you turning pages late into the night. It marks the long-anticipated debut of a riveting new series by #1 bestseller Jack Mars, dubbed “one of the best thriller authors” out there.
“Thriller writing at its best.”
--Midwest Book Review (re Any Means Necessary)
Also available is Jack Mars’ #1 bestselling LUKE STONE THRILLER series (7 books), which begins with Any Means Necessary (Book #1), a free download with over 800 five star reviews!
PRIMARY TARGET
The Forging of Luke Stone—Book #1 (an Action Thriller)
COMING SOON!
AGENT ZERO
(A Kent Steele Spy Thriller—Book #1)
Join the email list and please let me know if you would like to read AGENT ZERO. The first 100 readers to email me will get a free copy!
“One of the best thrillers I have read this year.”
--Books and Movie Reviews (re Any Means Necessary)
In this much-anticipated debut of an epic spy thriller series by #1 bestseller Jack Mars, readers are taken on an action thriller across Europe as presumed-CIA operative Kent Steele, hunted by terrorists, by the CIA, and by his own identity, must solve the mystery of who is after him, who he is, of the terrorists’ pending target—and of the beautiful woman he keeps seeing in his mind.
Kent Steele, 38, a brilliant professor of European Hist
ory at Columbia University, lives a quiet life in a New York suburb with his two teenage daughters. All that changes when late one night he gets a knock on his door and is abducted by three terrorists—and finds himself flown across the ocean to be interrogated in a basement in Paris.
They are convinced that Kent is the most lethal spy the CIA has ever known.
He is convinced they have the wrong man.
Do they?
With a conspiracy around him, adversaries as smart as he is, and an assassin on his tail, the wild game of cat and mouse leads Kent on a perilous road—one that may lead back to Langley—and to a shocking discovery of his own identity.
AGENT ZERO is an espionage thriller that will keep you turning pages late into the night.
“Thriller writing at its best.”
--Midwest Book Review (re Any Means Necessary)
Also available is Jack Mars’ #1 bestselling LUKE STONE THRILLER series (7 books), which begins with Any Means Necessary (Book #1), a free download with over 800 five star reviews!
AGENT ZERO
(A Kent Steele Spy Thriller—Book #1)
Listen to the LUKE STONE THRILLER series in audio book format!
Now available on:
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Jack Mars
Jack Mars is the USA Today bestselling author of the LUKE STONE thriller series, which include the suspense thrillers ANY MEANS NECESSARY (book #1), OATH OF OFFICE (book #2), SITUATION ROOM (book #3), OPPOSE ANY FOE (book #4), PRESIDENT ELECT (book #5), OUR SACRED HONOR (book #6), and HOUSE DIVIDED (book #7).
ANY MEANS NECESSARY (book #1), which has over 800 five star reviews, is available as a free download on Amazon!
Jack loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.Jackmarsauthor.com to join the email list, receive a free book, receive free giveaways, connect on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch!
BOOKS BY JACK MARS
LUKE STONE THRILLER SERIES
ANY MEANS NECESSARY (Book #1)
OATH OF OFFICE (Book #2)
SITUATION ROOM (Book #3)
OPPOSE ANY FOE (Book #4)
PRESIDENT ELECT (Book #5)
OUR SACRED HONOR (Book #6)
HOUSE DIVIDED (Book #7)
FORGING OF LUKE STONE PREQUEL SERIES
PRIMARY TARGET (Book #1)
KENT STEELE SPY SERIES
AGENT ZERO (Book #1)