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Blowback
“Adventure, political intrigue, suspense, and action galore.”—Steve Berry A MISSION FOR JUSTICE Explosions rock London, Paris, and Washington. Casualties number in the thousands. The President orders his covert agencies to retaliate with full force. It’s time to launch Operation Blowback. The Defense Intelligence Agency’s Bridget Davenport was in the strike zone when the terrorists attacked. Claiming responsibility is Al-Souri, a jihadist who has consolidated multiple extremist cells in Syria. He plans to establish his own rule and wage all-out war against the West. For Blowback to succeed, Bridget needs a covert operative to infiltrate Al-Souri’s forces. U. S. Army Lieutenant Faraz Abdallah is still recovering from his last mission. But both he and Bridget know he’s the only man for the job. Faraz must re-enter the terrorists’ deadly world -- before America’s enemies launch their next offensive. “Reading Blowback is like saddling a rocket. Once it gets going, hang on for the ride!” —John Gilstrap “A riveting and relentless read.” —Jon Land “Blowback kept me up all night. Al Pessin is the new Tom Clancy.” —Tony Park “A timely thriller that pulls no punches. Highly recommended.” —Ward Larsen
393 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 23, 2021
27 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Al Pessin
10 books26 followersAl Pessin is a former member of the White House and Pentagon press corps, a 15-year foreign correspondent, and author of the forthcoming political thriller Body Man from Amphorae Publishing.
Subscribe to Al's mailing list at www.alpessin.com.
Set in a divided America, Body Man takes a cold look at the hot mess of America today and shows how much worse things could get if we let them. It takes you inside the Alt-Right movement, the White House, and a Marine Corps unit in combat. You’ll experience riots in the streets, insurrection in the military, and desperate last stands mirrored in the president’s private study and a remote cabin in the northern woods.
Subscribe to Al’s newsletter and social media feeds to be among the first to see the cover, learn more about the story, hear about giveaways and receive pre-order and discount info.
Al’s previous books, all award winners, are international military spy thrillers Sandblast, Blowback, and Shock Wave from Kensington Publishing.
All his books build on Al’s decades of experience covering the highest echelons of Washington as well as some of the world’s most desperate conflicts and most hopeful and inspiring moments. As a correspondent for Voice of America, Al was on the scene in Afghanistan and Iraq, at Southeast Asian refugee camps, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, the rally where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, and along streets devastated by terrorist bombs. He also reported to the world about uprisings in Beijing, Kyiv, Cairo, and Manila, as well as hope-filled elections in Egypt, Gaza, and Libya, among other places, indeed including the United States.
Al was expelled from China in 1989 for his coverage of the Tiananmen Massacre, accused of “illegal news gathering” and “fomenting counterrevolutionary rebellion.” Among other honors, he was named Communicator of the Year for that coverage.
Al also wrote the two-act farce Murder at the Butcher’s, which won Play of the Year at the Royal Palm Literary Awards and had four sold-out performances in its premiere run in November, 2019.
His novels have won a Florida Book Award and six Royal Palm Literary Awards, as well as other recognition.
Al has led writing seminars for Writers Digest, BookFest, Broward County Libraries, Florida WritersCon, Delray Beach Writers Colony, and at many other online and in-person events. He also taught graduate-level journalism as an adjunct at Northwestern University, his alma mater. Al has published commentaries in several outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Politico, and DefenseOne. He blogged on writing for the Florida Writers Association, and his work has appeared in Writers Digest, Mystery Scene and other publications.
Subscribe to Al's mailing list at www.alpessin.com.
Set in a divided America, Body Man takes a cold look at the hot mess of America today and shows how much worse things could get if we let them. It takes you inside the Alt-Right movement, the White House, and a Marine Corps unit in combat. You’ll experience riots in the streets, insurrection in the military, and desperate last stands mirrored in the president’s private study and a remote cabin in the northern woods.
Subscribe to Al’s newsletter and social media feeds to be among the first to see the cover, learn more about the story, hear about giveaways and receive pre-order and discount info.
Al’s previous books, all award winners, are international military spy thrillers Sandblast, Blowback, and Shock Wave from Kensington Publishing.
All his books build on Al’s decades of experience covering the highest echelons of Washington as well as some of the world’s most desperate conflicts and most hopeful and inspiring moments. As a correspondent for Voice of America, Al was on the scene in Afghanistan and Iraq, at Southeast Asian refugee camps, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, the rally where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, and along streets devastated by terrorist bombs. He also reported to the world about uprisings in Beijing, Kyiv, Cairo, and Manila, as well as hope-filled elections in Egypt, Gaza, and Libya, among other places, indeed including the United States.
Al was expelled from China in 1989 for his coverage of the Tiananmen Massacre, accused of “illegal news gathering” and “fomenting counterrevolutionary rebellion.” Among other honors, he was named Communicator of the Year for that coverage.
Al also wrote the two-act farce Murder at the Butcher’s, which won Play of the Year at the Royal Palm Literary Awards and had four sold-out performances in its premiere run in November, 2019.
His novels have won a Florida Book Award and six Royal Palm Literary Awards, as well as other recognition.
Al has led writing seminars for Writers Digest, BookFest, Broward County Libraries, Florida WritersCon, Delray Beach Writers Colony, and at many other online and in-person events. He also taught graduate-level journalism as an adjunct at Northwestern University, his alma mater. Al has published commentaries in several outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Politico, and DefenseOne. He blogged on writing for the Florida Writers Association, and his work has appeared in Writers Digest, Mystery Scene and other publications.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 23, 2021
One helluva ride!
This is the second thriller in this series and it keeps you in a tight grip that started in the first book and seldom lets up. You don't need to have read the first novel because the author provides plenty of information as the new story unfolds, but it is a much better experience if you read them in order. The main hero of the book is an Afghan-American US soldier who goes underground to infiltrate terrorist camps. He is guided and commanded by a female American officer who mainly stays out of the action and tries to keep track of him from afar. The danger he faces is palpable, but she and the other US officials counting on his mission are also under great stress because they know the terrorist mastermind is at work on another diabolical plan and that their undercover agent may be the only one who can get the information they need to stop it.
As was true of the first book, Blowback provides lots of details that give the story verisimilitude. The author knows his stuff, having worked as an international journalist for a few decades. He also knows who to go to for information to keep his story within reasonable bounds of believability. He can explain grammatical rules in Arabic and Pashto and then describe American military protocol without missing a beat. Of course, being a thriller and not a true war story, the book does contain some action scenes that stretch credulity. That one man could endure so much and accomplish so much without getting killed is a little hard to buy, but there are some true stories of courageous action in combat that are equally astounding. So, there is that. But nothing in this novel comes anywhere close to being as contrived or absurdly heroic as what you would seeing a James Bond movie. The reader can imagine that something like this story has, in fact, happened. For security reasons many of these stories are never told, but we are probably safer because of the bravery and professionalism of heroes whose names we may never know. That is one reason I am glad to see a hero who is a loyal American and also the son of immigrants who can speak the languages necessary to carry out a dangerous mission behind enemy lines, if that phrase can apply in a world in which there often are no clear lines. These books provide an important understanding of just how much the diversity of our country serves us. The men and women who serve in the US military come from families with cultural, linguistic and religious ties to many nations, but they are strongly united to all of us by their belief in and dedication to the ideals and principles for which this nation stands.
This is the second thriller in this series and it keeps you in a tight grip that started in the first book and seldom lets up. You don't need to have read the first novel because the author provides plenty of information as the new story unfolds, but it is a much better experience if you read them in order. The main hero of the book is an Afghan-American US soldier who goes underground to infiltrate terrorist camps. He is guided and commanded by a female American officer who mainly stays out of the action and tries to keep track of him from afar. The danger he faces is palpable, but she and the other US officials counting on his mission are also under great stress because they know the terrorist mastermind is at work on another diabolical plan and that their undercover agent may be the only one who can get the information they need to stop it.
As was true of the first book, Blowback provides lots of details that give the story verisimilitude. The author knows his stuff, having worked as an international journalist for a few decades. He also knows who to go to for information to keep his story within reasonable bounds of believability. He can explain grammatical rules in Arabic and Pashto and then describe American military protocol without missing a beat. Of course, being a thriller and not a true war story, the book does contain some action scenes that stretch credulity. That one man could endure so much and accomplish so much without getting killed is a little hard to buy, but there are some true stories of courageous action in combat that are equally astounding. So, there is that. But nothing in this novel comes anywhere close to being as contrived or absurdly heroic as what you would seeing a James Bond movie. The reader can imagine that something like this story has, in fact, happened. For security reasons many of these stories are never told, but we are probably safer because of the bravery and professionalism of heroes whose names we may never know. That is one reason I am glad to see a hero who is a loyal American and also the son of immigrants who can speak the languages necessary to carry out a dangerous mission behind enemy lines, if that phrase can apply in a world in which there often are no clear lines. These books provide an important understanding of just how much the diversity of our country serves us. The men and women who serve in the US military come from families with cultural, linguistic and religious ties to many nations, but they are strongly united to all of us by their belief in and dedication to the ideals and principles for which this nation stands.
February 19, 2021
Novels are often praised as being “ripped from the headlines” when the writer creates a fictional narrative based on events happening in the real world. Blowback, Al Pessin’s second Task Force Epsilon outing is all that. And more.
Much much more than being present for the headline, the reader becomes a fly on the wall in the anonymous offices and desert compounds where people—some ruthless, some honorable—set in motion events that eventually become headlines.
The main characters, an Afghan-born U.S. Army soldier who goes undercover in Syria and his Pentagon handler who tries to keep him alive, are beautifully drawn.
Pessin’s clear writing and his experiences in the Middle East as a foreign correspondent make this a compelling personal and political drama, a thinking-person’s thriller. Highly recommended.
Much much more than being present for the headline, the reader becomes a fly on the wall in the anonymous offices and desert compounds where people—some ruthless, some honorable—set in motion events that eventually become headlines.
The main characters, an Afghan-born U.S. Army soldier who goes undercover in Syria and his Pentagon handler who tries to keep him alive, are beautifully drawn.
Pessin’s clear writing and his experiences in the Middle East as a foreign correspondent make this a compelling personal and political drama, a thinking-person’s thriller. Highly recommended.
March 12, 2021
The Tom Clancy comparisons are legitimate. Action, intrigue, and adventure packed, Al Pessin's impressive career as a foreign correspondent colors the realism in this thriller. You'll want to keep turning the pages to see how the two protagonists, Defense Intelligence Agency's Bridget Davenport and Army Lt. Faraz Abdallah, will survive Operation Blowback. Two books into the series, I'm now convinced Al Pessin should be known for a deeply satisfying ending.
September 22, 2021
A wakeup call
Although thrilling the whole episode is more of a wakeup call to the very real potential of this happening in real time. Although I am not a conspiracy theory advocate the reality of this actually happening is very significant. Will we survive, that is the unanswered truth.
Although thrilling the whole episode is more of a wakeup call to the very real potential of this happening in real time. Although I am not a conspiracy theory advocate the reality of this actually happening is very significant. Will we survive, that is the unanswered truth.
August 3, 2021
Excellent for entertaining
the knowledge of Arab culture is evident. It is a pleasure to read a book in which the author deeply research the topic. It has a well-defined suspense and speed. It is highly recommendable.
the knowledge of Arab culture is evident. It is a pleasure to read a book in which the author deeply research the topic. It has a well-defined suspense and speed. It is highly recommendable.
May 6, 2021
Nice
Book two was as good as book one. Definitely read this book. It will keep you entertained until the end. Don’t flip through the last few pages without paying attention.
Book two was as good as book one. Definitely read this book. It will keep you entertained until the end. Don’t flip through the last few pages without paying attention.
June 15, 2021
The first book Sandblast was amazing. The follow up...Blowback was merely good.
June 28, 2021
Not as good as the first book but it is worth reading it could well happen fact or fiction
December 27, 2021
My first book by Al Pessin. Looking forward to the next. Great story, great read. My favorite genre. Full of action action and suspense.
October 6, 2022
A thrilling ride
Action packed, thought provoking, and insightful. The reader is pulled into the action all too aware that there is much truth within the fiction.
Action packed, thought provoking, and insightful. The reader is pulled into the action all too aware that there is much truth within the fiction.
November 13, 2025
couldn't read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews