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Containment: The Origin of SPEAR
Some secrets are too dangerous to confirm—and too perilous to deny.
When influencer Piper Collins disappears after hinting she found something she was never meant to see, her account becomes the centerpiece of an international blackmail campaign. An anonymous adversary turns her millions of followers into a weapon, forcing the U.S. government to admit possessing a discovery capable of shifting the balance of power.
Former Army Ranger Zac Johnson knows the demand isn’t empty. Months earlier, he helped recover the classified technology from a secret wartime bunker beneath Bora Bora. Now the only way to keep the secret buried is to find Piper before the conspiracy behind her disappearance spirals beyond anyone’s control.
From a nuclear repository in New Mexico to the desert mountains above Palm Springs, Zac faces a threat no agency was designed to stop.
No agency is built for a crisis like this. So the country creates something new.
They'll call it SPEAR.
When influencer Piper Collins disappears after hinting she found something she was never meant to see, her account becomes the centerpiece of an international blackmail campaign. An anonymous adversary turns her millions of followers into a weapon, forcing the U.S. government to admit possessing a discovery capable of shifting the balance of power.
Former Army Ranger Zac Johnson knows the demand isn’t empty. Months earlier, he helped recover the classified technology from a secret wartime bunker beneath Bora Bora. Now the only way to keep the secret buried is to find Piper before the conspiracy behind her disappearance spirals beyond anyone’s control.
From a nuclear repository in New Mexico to the desert mountains above Palm Springs, Zac faces a threat no agency was designed to stop.
No agency is built for a crisis like this. So the country creates something new.
They'll call it SPEAR.
108 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2026
About the author
Dave Bartell
21 books124 followersDave Bartell has spent his life chasing questions across mountains, deserts, laboratories, and quiet places where the universe feels close enough to touch. He climbed the highest mountain in the continental United States at ten, earned the nickname 'mountain goat' for his relentless pace on the trail, and could start a campfire with a single match before he learned algebra. As a teenager, he preserved indigenous bone beads found on a Southern California peak—his first archaeological discovery, long before he knew the word for it.
A degree in biochemistry sharpened his sense that humanity is made of stardust and story. Air Force survival training taught him how to think when options vanish. Zen meditation taught him how to listen to mysteries hiding in the quiet. He raced road bikes at more than fifty miles an hour, circled Lake Tahoe in four hours, and learned that endurance is a kind of prayer.
Today, Dave writes archaeological thrillers that blend science, history, and wonder. A member of the Archaeological Institute of America, he draws from a lifetime of adventure to craft stories of discovery, danger, and the search for meaning in a vast, ancient world. He lives in Los Gatos, California, where the hills still offer enough wilderness to spark a novel.
A degree in biochemistry sharpened his sense that humanity is made of stardust and story. Air Force survival training taught him how to think when options vanish. Zen meditation taught him how to listen to mysteries hiding in the quiet. He raced road bikes at more than fifty miles an hour, circled Lake Tahoe in four hours, and learned that endurance is a kind of prayer.
Today, Dave writes archaeological thrillers that blend science, history, and wonder. A member of the Archaeological Institute of America, he draws from a lifetime of adventure to craft stories of discovery, danger, and the search for meaning in a vast, ancient world. He lives in Los Gatos, California, where the hills still offer enough wilderness to spark a novel.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 2, 2026
review of “Containment” by Dave Bartell
Cool novel. As was stated elsewhere the pages just jump out at you. It’s easy to feel the characters as if you knew them. My only complaint is that it was too short
Cool novel. As was stated elsewhere the pages just jump out at you. It’s easy to feel the characters as if you knew them. My only complaint is that it was too short
October 2, 2026
Good introduction into a new series. Character development and plot appears to be interesting and look forward to reading more.
October 9, 2026
Zac Rocks
I loved Book Zero which shows Zac involved in his intro as a team of one! I am looking forward to the first Zac book due on 1 November 2026.
I loved Book Zero which shows Zac involved in his intro as a team of one! I am looking forward to the first Zac book due on 1 November 2026.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews