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Rogue Sentinel
Shane Mathews, an experienced Tier 1 operator, pursues Objective FULLBACK—a U.S. citizen working for the Islamic State as an operations planner and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people…
Rogue Sentinel is an international thriller that puts the reader in the heart of the special operations and intelligence communities as Shane Mathews, an experienced Tier 1 operator, is sent undercover to track and attempt to capture an American working for ISIS inside Syria. Supported by David Cain, chief of the Counter Terrorism Shop in Fort Meade, Maryland, Mathews locates and positively identifies Objective FULLBACK—known within ISIS as “al-Amriki” ( The American ). After tracking him for several days to prepare for a capture operation, Mathews—now working with his trusted NCO, Senior Master Sergeant Simms—executes the operation to capture al-Amriki.
Mathews and Simms covertly enter al-Amriki’s safehouse, and as Mathews is about to act to break a deadly standoff with the terrorist mastermind only a few feet away, Cain relays an order from the CIA’s Director of Operations—abort immediately
Why does the CIA want an operations planner for ISIS left alone? Mathews and Cain both want answers, and when they discover the reasons for the order, they will need to use all their experience and skill to try and deal a fatal blow the leadership of the Islamic State before the embryonic terrorist nation can spread its tentacles even farther, endangering more innocent lives across the entire Middle East!
Rogue Sentinel is an international thriller that puts the reader in the heart of the special operations and intelligence communities as Shane Mathews, an experienced Tier 1 operator, is sent undercover to track and attempt to capture an American working for ISIS inside Syria. Supported by David Cain, chief of the Counter Terrorism Shop in Fort Meade, Maryland, Mathews locates and positively identifies Objective FULLBACK—known within ISIS as “al-Amriki” ( The American ). After tracking him for several days to prepare for a capture operation, Mathews—now working with his trusted NCO, Senior Master Sergeant Simms—executes the operation to capture al-Amriki.
Mathews and Simms covertly enter al-Amriki’s safehouse, and as Mathews is about to act to break a deadly standoff with the terrorist mastermind only a few feet away, Cain relays an order from the CIA’s Director of Operations—abort immediately
Why does the CIA want an operations planner for ISIS left alone? Mathews and Cain both want answers, and when they discover the reasons for the order, they will need to use all their experience and skill to try and deal a fatal blow the leadership of the Islamic State before the embryonic terrorist nation can spread its tentacles even farther, endangering more innocent lives across the entire Middle East!
320 pages, Paperback
Published July 21, 2020
1 person is currently reading
1103 people want to read
About the author
Tom Wither
4 books23 followersTom Wither is a thirty-two-year Air Force intelligence professional and twenty-five-year affiliate of the National Security Agency.
After joining the Air Force in 1987 and completing initial intelligence training at Goodfellow AFB, Texas, he served as a Signals Intelligence Analyst and Advisory Support Analyst during various assignments. A veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, he provided time-critical information to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center, which led to the safe extraction of downed allied airborne personnel and location data that resulted in the destruction of 25 strategic targets.
After completing a six-month long analytic training program with NSA in 1994, he served as an Intelligence Analyst and Senior Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Air Force gaining his NSA certification as an intelligence analyst.
After leaving active duty for a civilian position with the Air Force as a Special Projects Officer, Tom worked directly with varied elements of the intelligence community, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence managed special activities. During this period, Tom earned his certification as an Intelligence Community Officer (currently known as the Joint Duty Assignment program) and led signals intelligence analytic teams.
Following his promotion to Technical Director, Tom advised Air Force senior leaders on the production of signals intelligence and the legal, policy, and technical constraints of those activities. In addition, Tom led the design and implementation of unique signals intelligence processing and storage systems supporting Air Force space and cyber operations during Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, NEW DAWN, and INHERENT RESOLVE.
Tom also participated in the coordination, targeting, and approval process for Operation INHERENT RESOLVE combat actions to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) with Air Force non-kinetic capabilities, gaining Secretary of Defense level approval for his unit’s intelligence operations to underpin those capabilities.
In addition to his other military and civilian awards, Tom was most recently awarded the Exemplary Civilian Service Award for his work that led to a major degradation of ISIS command and control, the destruction of one of their headquarters facilities, and the liberation of Raqqah, Syria from ISIS control.
After joining the Air Force in 1987 and completing initial intelligence training at Goodfellow AFB, Texas, he served as a Signals Intelligence Analyst and Advisory Support Analyst during various assignments. A veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, he provided time-critical information to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center, which led to the safe extraction of downed allied airborne personnel and location data that resulted in the destruction of 25 strategic targets.
After completing a six-month long analytic training program with NSA in 1994, he served as an Intelligence Analyst and Senior Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Air Force gaining his NSA certification as an intelligence analyst.
After leaving active duty for a civilian position with the Air Force as a Special Projects Officer, Tom worked directly with varied elements of the intelligence community, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence managed special activities. During this period, Tom earned his certification as an Intelligence Community Officer (currently known as the Joint Duty Assignment program) and led signals intelligence analytic teams.
Following his promotion to Technical Director, Tom advised Air Force senior leaders on the production of signals intelligence and the legal, policy, and technical constraints of those activities. In addition, Tom led the design and implementation of unique signals intelligence processing and storage systems supporting Air Force space and cyber operations during Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, NEW DAWN, and INHERENT RESOLVE.
Tom also participated in the coordination, targeting, and approval process for Operation INHERENT RESOLVE combat actions to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) with Air Force non-kinetic capabilities, gaining Secretary of Defense level approval for his unit’s intelligence operations to underpin those capabilities.
In addition to his other military and civilian awards, Tom was most recently awarded the Exemplary Civilian Service Award for his work that led to a major degradation of ISIS command and control, the destruction of one of their headquarters facilities, and the liberation of Raqqah, Syria from ISIS control.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 13, 2020
I wasn't sure how this one was going to go at first. It took a bit for me to really get into reading it. I found it slow at the beginning and that was a third or close to half of the book. It wasn't terrible, just a bit slow going. However, as I got into the actual military operation, it was picking up steam and I was enjoying it much more.
The story was well done I thought; it kept my attention once the operation began. There was a huge twist I was not expecting and that was a thrill; I love those! I did enjoy getting to know the characters and following along with them. It definitely became full of action, which I always enjoy.
The characters were pretty well rounded. It was a great military operation that went down and I really did enjoy that. The story wasn't bad other than the slow start. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.
The story was well done I thought; it kept my attention once the operation began. There was a huge twist I was not expecting and that was a thrill; I love those! I did enjoy getting to know the characters and following along with them. It definitely became full of action, which I always enjoy.
The characters were pretty well rounded. It was a great military operation that went down and I really did enjoy that. The story wasn't bad other than the slow start. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.
January 5, 2020
A great thriller about Syria and ISIS.
March 13, 2020
3.5 Stars
Rogue Sentinel begins with Lieutenant Commander Mathews, along with his girlfriend, on a trip to San Diego for some R&R. Mathews is still having a hard time with the fact that he lost a team member on a previous mission. When his girlfriend tries to get him to talk about the loss, it leads to Mathews losing his temper a bit and yelling at her. When Mathews is contacted and advised he's been tagged for a mission to Jordan, they cut their trip short and head back to base. The trip back is tense between the two of them and only gets worse once they land.
Mathews is briefed on his mission: he is going in solo to capture an American who has joined ISIS, and is the mastermind behind some of their attacks. As Mathews readies for the mission, things between him and X go from bad to worse when she tells him he'll have to find someone else to feed his fish while he's gone. Mathews heads to Jordan, knowing that he has to keep his focus on the task at hand. But, he does hope that she's waiting on him when, and if, he gets home.
al-Amriki (The American) has established himself as one of the top minds in ISIS. Even though some do not trust him, Akil, to whom al-Amriki reports to, trusts him almost implicitly. Once Mathews arrives in Jordan, it doesn't take long, to his surprise, to run into al-Amriki face to face in a local shop. al-Amriki is suspicious of Mathews but stays the course. As Mathews reports back to his superiors, the decision is made for him and a fellow soldier, Simms, to go in under the cover of darkness to capture their target. Once they gain entrance to al-Amriki's modest house, they are literally feet away when the mission is called off, which leaves Mathews furious and al-Amriki shaken. What follows leads Mathews and Simms down a covert path that will see them not only working with al-Amriki, but fighting against some of the top leaders of ISIS.
Rogue Sentinel is a story full of intrigue and surprises. The characters are well written and relatable. However, there is a lot going on in this book. Lots of secondary characters and lots of acronyms that lost me at times. Parts of the book almost read like a screenplay with it's descriptive dialogue. Once I got used to the author's way of telling his story, I really enjoyed the book. Mathews was a great character. HIs real life issues with losing a teammate on a mission makes him believable and relatable. His support team was great as well. I loved the action sequences and the interactions between the characters. Rogue Sentinel deals with real life, modern day life and death issues faced every day by members of our military. If you're a fan of the intelligence and military world, you'll enjoy this one. Well done, Tom Wither!
Rogue Sentinel begins with Lieutenant Commander Mathews, along with his girlfriend, on a trip to San Diego for some R&R. Mathews is still having a hard time with the fact that he lost a team member on a previous mission. When his girlfriend tries to get him to talk about the loss, it leads to Mathews losing his temper a bit and yelling at her. When Mathews is contacted and advised he's been tagged for a mission to Jordan, they cut their trip short and head back to base. The trip back is tense between the two of them and only gets worse once they land.
Mathews is briefed on his mission: he is going in solo to capture an American who has joined ISIS, and is the mastermind behind some of their attacks. As Mathews readies for the mission, things between him and X go from bad to worse when she tells him he'll have to find someone else to feed his fish while he's gone. Mathews heads to Jordan, knowing that he has to keep his focus on the task at hand. But, he does hope that she's waiting on him when, and if, he gets home.
al-Amriki (The American) has established himself as one of the top minds in ISIS. Even though some do not trust him, Akil, to whom al-Amriki reports to, trusts him almost implicitly. Once Mathews arrives in Jordan, it doesn't take long, to his surprise, to run into al-Amriki face to face in a local shop. al-Amriki is suspicious of Mathews but stays the course. As Mathews reports back to his superiors, the decision is made for him and a fellow soldier, Simms, to go in under the cover of darkness to capture their target. Once they gain entrance to al-Amriki's modest house, they are literally feet away when the mission is called off, which leaves Mathews furious and al-Amriki shaken. What follows leads Mathews and Simms down a covert path that will see them not only working with al-Amriki, but fighting against some of the top leaders of ISIS.
Rogue Sentinel is a story full of intrigue and surprises. The characters are well written and relatable. However, there is a lot going on in this book. Lots of secondary characters and lots of acronyms that lost me at times. Parts of the book almost read like a screenplay with it's descriptive dialogue. Once I got used to the author's way of telling his story, I really enjoyed the book. Mathews was a great character. HIs real life issues with losing a teammate on a mission makes him believable and relatable. His support team was great as well. I loved the action sequences and the interactions between the characters. Rogue Sentinel deals with real life, modern day life and death issues faced every day by members of our military. If you're a fan of the intelligence and military world, you'll enjoy this one. Well done, Tom Wither!
April 8, 2020
Great thriller. It really kept me interested all the time. Super quick read, I highly recommend it.
December 16, 2020
Not my typical genre, but it is a very quick paced book that kept my interest all the way through! I definitely recommend even if it isn't your style!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews