The Rendition

August 20, 2012
A former military contractor who did tours in Kosovo, Germany, and Afghanistan, Ashforth (Murder After the Fact) brings valuable insider detail to this exciting spy thriller. In 2007, veteran intelligence officer Alex Klear embarks on a mission in Kosovo to seize Ramush Nadaj of the Kosovo Liberation Army and spirit him out of the country. The operation doesn't go as planned. Alex endures two days of torture at the hands of Nadaj and his KLA people before his partner, Buck Romero, rescues him. While recovering at a military hospital in Germany, Alex decides to retire from covert work. Then attractive Col. Sylvia Frost offers him a chance to get back at the folks who almost killed him and complete Nadaj's rendition. An old girlfriend from Alex's early days in Germany lends romantic interest as he seeks to unravel a tangled skein of lies and international politics. Fans of classic spy fiction will look forward to seeing more of the indomitable Alex.

October 15, 2012
Using knowledge gained from his U.S. Army training, Ashforth crafts a compelling novel. Intelligence officer Alex Klear's assignment to kidnap an officer in the Kosovo military goes awry. He's tortured and barely survives. Now retired, Klear is persuaded to get back in the game, lured by the opportunity to pay back his captors. Forced to work with a superior officer he can't stand, Klear must utilize all of his contacts to try to discover the truth behind the imprisonment of another officer accused of murder. Ashforth brings plenty of authentic detail to the narrative and generates considerable suspense in the process. Readers who enjoy the military action and derring-do of Brad Taylor or Ben Coes should add Ashforth to their reading lists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)