The African Contract

Hayden Stone #2

by Arthur Kerns

In the savannahs of Namibia, a boxcar sits, locked and watched. There is no limit to how many people would die from what’s inside. There is no limit to how many people would kill for it.

Hayden Stone is brought back into the CIA to help navigate the choppy diplomatic waters between the U.S., Canada, England, South Africa, and any number of other players in a mission to prevent the worst of weapons from falling into the wrong hands. While representatives from other countries are there to help him, Hayden knows the only person he can trust is himself, and that once the weapon is located, all bets are off.

His mission will take him into palatial mansions and parched-earth slums, into the shadowy world of black ops and the chaos of an endless war. It will lead him directly into the crosshairs—but whose finger is on the trigger?

252 pages, Paperback, eBook, Audible

First published May 18, 2014

About the author

To Love Again, a love story, was published in February 2024. Arthur Kerns has been writing stories since high school. He joined the FBI with a career in counterintelligence and counterterrorism. On retirement, he became a consultant with the Director of Central Intelligence and the Department of State, taking him to over sixty-five countries. His short stories and mysteries have appeared in several award-winning anthologies and he was a first place winner in the Cave Creek Film and Arts Festival. Diversion Books, Inc published his Hayden Stone thriller trilogy, The Riviera Contract, The African Contract, and The Yemen Contract. The spy thriller, Days of the Hunters, since was published. An espionage novel, A Suitable Spy, is completed and with his agent. He is working on an “out-of-the-box” spy novel Special Agent Bumper Ballantyne inside the Hollywood Bubble that is marinating.
For him a jump in genres, his new novella, To Love Again, is a love story.
Website: www.arthurkerns.com

Reviews

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 of this series is a much better written and plotted book. The contract that appears in the titles deal with contracts that independent individuals have to help or assist CIA in overseas actions. Lots of shoot 'em up, but not nearly as much as book #1 which had a bit too much and which were a bit too unbelievable for me. This book is different. Set in 2002 the action is set in South Africa where we have a rogue nuclear bomb that is being sold by a former South African military man to terrorists who plan to use it against the US. The CIA spots a thermal signal and they contact Hayden Stone to go into action and find the bomb and secure it for the US. Not all that simple. I think the author does a good job of showing the CIA always a half step behind in its intelligence and how 2001 caught everyone off guard. Are we dealing with Libyans, or other terrorists. Where is the bomb headed and how do we get control of the bomb. All questions Stone has to face. Better plotting but there are still a bunch of unnecessary characters and actions, including a bird drone which is neat but really does little to advance things. A US Ambassador who is just window dressing, and some side characters that just go nowhere. But it all does come together. Terrorists do not come across as hopeless as many books portray them which helps push the action along.
Solid effort. One more to go in this trilogy. I assume more will eventually be written and published.

[Heather Fineisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid spy entertainment. The Bad guys are bad and the Good guys are good. Just what you're looking for in a non-stop action read with exotic locales and the hero you either want to be, be with, or both!

Provided by publisher

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I want to thank Diversion Books and Goodreads for providing my advanced copy of The African Contract. This was an fast-paced spy/thriller novel with terrorists in possession of a nuclear bomb. The characters, both good and bad, were pretty well fleshed out with no lack of excitement all around. Reading it, however, made me think that I missed out on some of the depth of the characters by not reading Arthur Kern's first novel in this series. Some of the back story seemed to be missing.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read and I look forward to a sequel. Actually, this book would make a fantastic movie!

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads giveaway, but I was not required to provide a review.

Positives:
1) An enjoying Spy novel.
2) It has pretty decent character development.
4) Very well written, and did not notice any grammatical errors.

Negatives:
1) Couple sexual situations, but they were very mild, so they did not make me feel uncomfortable reading them.

Conclusion:
I would suggest this as a good book for the spy genre lover. It was very entertaining and I would definitely read other books in the series.

[Gregory Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the follow up to Kern’s The Riviera Contract, The African Contract takes Hayden Stone to the seedier parts of an Africa that few Americans and Westerners will ever visit –or even want to. But that’s why there are writers like Kerns. They take us to thrilling places we can only imagine in our nightmares (how about a black mamba snake as a room guest). Multi-layered, rich with new and old characters, and gripping locations, Kerns carries us on a sweeping ride as broad as the African savannah and exotic as Sierra Leona and Capetown. I enjoyed it immensely.