It's a simple plan - force the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by shutting down key US ports. No need for weapons of mass destruction, ordinary explosives easily obtained would do the job. The complex part is for Coast Guard Lieutenant Mark Fletcher to stop it from happening. Faced with an unknown enemy from his past and betrayal by his superior officers, Mark is caught in a labyrinth of deceit. His only allies are a retired Navy SEAL and a beautiful African American helicopter pilot. Stretching from the treacherous shores of Iraq to inner circles of power in Washington, DC, Choke Points leads the reader deep into the heart of the War on Terror and the real threats of attack on the U.S.
Choke Points (Fletcher Saga)
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More About the Author
The Truth©
Before I was 30, I'd been in everything from an Arctic hurricane to a rum factory in Haiti.
I'd gone to sea for a living - truly the second biggest crap game in the world. It was a place where the only chip in the game was your life and it was on the table every time you got underway.
My job history reads like a Doctor Strange comic book from the 1960's. I've sold insur¬ance, encyclopedias, computers and commodity options. Jobs have included scuba div¬ing, retail sales, computerized embroidery, marketing marine navigation software to mega-yachts in Florida, telemarketing and building models of everything from sailing ships to weapons systems.
On the docks of Boston, my tires were flattened by an ice pick wielding competitor when I got an order for ship supplies before he did.
Helping to bring a sailboat back from the Bahamas, I experienced the copper taste of fear for the first time and there was gray in my hair when I reached shore.
I've been blessed by the Northern Lights, sailed through Prince Christian Sound at the tip of Greenland, a land so old that you expect to see Leif Ericcson pull out from the next fiord, seen the Green Flash as the sun set behind the Leeward Islands and watched dol¬phins play in a tug's bow wave in the Gulf of Mexico.
The words "Boarding Party" and "Prize Crew" evoke images of pirates and bloody cut¬lasses. Reality for me was a .45 pistol and backed up by M16's and .50 caliber machine guns.
One time on ship if I had zigged instead of zagged, they would have buried me in two pieces.
I've known the love of a great woman and how heart wrenching it can be to raise children.
All this and a buck gets me a cup of coffee
Here is the rest of the story:
Mike's first book, Bloodstained Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard in the Battle of the Atlantic 1941-1944, was published by International Marine, a division of McGraw-Hill, and received critical acclaim by reviewers and veterans. The Naval Order of the United States honored him with its 2005 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. Bloodstained Sea is now available through Cutter Publishing (www.cutterpublishing.com).
On the lighter side, he published, in conjunction with Flat Hammock Press, a new edition of "Sinbad of the Coast Guard," the adventurous, true story of the USCGC Campbell's mascot whose exploits during World War II became legend. Appropriately, Sinbad's story was told by a fellow member of the Coast Guard, Chief George F. Foley, Jr., while the fine pictures were drawn by the outstanding Coast Guard Reserve artist, George Gray.
His most recent book, "In the Event of a Water Landing" tells for the first time the full stories of the Bermuda Sky Queen and Sovereign of the Skies rescues, the only two completely successful open ocean ditchings in Commercial Aviation history. These two stories encompass many facets of ditchings: bad weather, engine failure, horrific sea conditions, and indomitable courage in the face of death. Between these two are tales of other ditchings, as well as the journey we humans have undertaken from the beginning of transoceanic flight to today.
Mike's first novel Choke Points (Cutter Publishing, 2009) addresses the real threats to Maritime and Port Security. It's the first of a ten book Fletcher Saga series spanning 250 years.
In different venue, Mike has produced a new version of the old song I'd Like to Find the Guy Who Named the Coast Guard originally written and recorded by Paul Yacich and the Coast Guard Band in 1945. The music has been lost, but working with Alison Freemen, this wonderfully humorous tune has been given a new lease on life and updated with three verses reflecting today's Coast Guard global missions.
He is a contributing author to the US Naval Institute's Naval History Magazine as well as regularly posting articles on Authors Den (www.authorsden.com).
In 2005, Mike appeared on the History Channel series Man, Moment, Machine episode about Andrew J. Higgins, the designer and builder of the vital landing craft used in World War II, and, as a script consultant for the episode, reviewed the material for accuracy.
His current projects include two unique books about the war in Iraq (due out in September 2011), and a second novel Admiral Raeder's War (available April 2011).
In different venue, Mike has produced a new version of the old song I'd Like to Find the Guy Who Named the Coast Guard originally written and recorded by Paul Yacich and the Coast Guard Band in 1945. The music has been lost, but working with Alison Freemen, this wonderfully humorous tune has been given a new lease on life and updated with three verses reflecting today's Coast Guard global missions.
He is an internationally recognized expert on World War II. His expertise also includes such diverse fields as leadership, international terror, trans-national crime, human trafficking, piracy and counter piracy operations as well as geo-political and military history.
Mike's hosting 2 shows on Hudson Cable Access TV (HUD-TV). The first, "On the LAMH" (Literature, Arts, and Music in Hudson) features area artists of all genres and community organizations that promote the arts. The second, "The SITREP" (Situation Report), offers information on current military, veterans, and emergency services throughout Massachusetts with the help a wide range of guests.
After graduating from Montclair State College with a BA in Biology, Mike served in the U.S. Coast Guard for six years as a commissioned officer and a senior petty officer. His assignments included buoy tending, search and rescue missions, search and rescue coordination, drug law enforcement, and oceanographic operations in the Arctic. As part of the Boarding Party and Prize Crew on two cutters he participated in the seizures of a Panamanian drug-runner and a Cuban fishing boat. His decorations include the U.S. Coast Guard Achievement Medal (Operational) for counter-drug operations, Arctic Service Medal, Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, and USCG Cutterman's Insignia.
Mike has spent more than 45 years collecting stories from veterans from World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq as well as those of pilots, merchant seaman, civilian personnel with NATO and EUFOR in the Balkans. His research has included visits to London; Sarajevo; Baska Voda, Croatia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; St. John's, Newfoundland; and New Orleans.
He can be reached through his web site: www.mikewalling.com.
Before I was 30, I'd been in everything from an Arctic hurricane to a rum factory in Haiti.
I'd gone to sea for a living - truly the second biggest crap game in the world. It was a place where the only chip in the game was your life and it was on the table every time you got underway.
My job history reads like a Doctor Strange comic book from the 1960's. I've sold insur¬ance, encyclopedias, computers and commodity options. Jobs have included scuba div¬ing, retail sales, computerized embroidery, marketing marine navigation software to mega-yachts in Florida, telemarketing and building models of everything from sailing ships to weapons systems.
On the docks of Boston, my tires were flattened by an ice pick wielding competitor when I got an order for ship supplies before he did.
Helping to bring a sailboat back from the Bahamas, I experienced the copper taste of fear for the first time and there was gray in my hair when I reached shore.
I've been blessed by the Northern Lights, sailed through Prince Christian Sound at the tip of Greenland, a land so old that you expect to see Leif Ericcson pull out from the next fiord, seen the Green Flash as the sun set behind the Leeward Islands and watched dol¬phins play in a tug's bow wave in the Gulf of Mexico.
The words "Boarding Party" and "Prize Crew" evoke images of pirates and bloody cut¬lasses. Reality for me was a .45 pistol and backed up by M16's and .50 caliber machine guns.
One time on ship if I had zigged instead of zagged, they would have buried me in two pieces.
I've known the love of a great woman and how heart wrenching it can be to raise children.
All this and a buck gets me a cup of coffee
Here is the rest of the story:
Mike's first book, Bloodstained Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard in the Battle of the Atlantic 1941-1944, was published by International Marine, a division of McGraw-Hill, and received critical acclaim by reviewers and veterans. The Naval Order of the United States honored him with its 2005 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. Bloodstained Sea is now available through Cutter Publishing (www.cutterpublishing.com).
On the lighter side, he published, in conjunction with Flat Hammock Press, a new edition of "Sinbad of the Coast Guard," the adventurous, true story of the USCGC Campbell's mascot whose exploits during World War II became legend. Appropriately, Sinbad's story was told by a fellow member of the Coast Guard, Chief George F. Foley, Jr., while the fine pictures were drawn by the outstanding Coast Guard Reserve artist, George Gray.
His most recent book, "In the Event of a Water Landing" tells for the first time the full stories of the Bermuda Sky Queen and Sovereign of the Skies rescues, the only two completely successful open ocean ditchings in Commercial Aviation history. These two stories encompass many facets of ditchings: bad weather, engine failure, horrific sea conditions, and indomitable courage in the face of death. Between these two are tales of other ditchings, as well as the journey we humans have undertaken from the beginning of transoceanic flight to today.
Mike's first novel Choke Points (Cutter Publishing, 2009) addresses the real threats to Maritime and Port Security. It's the first of a ten book Fletcher Saga series spanning 250 years.
In different venue, Mike has produced a new version of the old song I'd Like to Find the Guy Who Named the Coast Guard originally written and recorded by Paul Yacich and the Coast Guard Band in 1945. The music has been lost, but working with Alison Freemen, this wonderfully humorous tune has been given a new lease on life and updated with three verses reflecting today's Coast Guard global missions.
He is a contributing author to the US Naval Institute's Naval History Magazine as well as regularly posting articles on Authors Den (www.authorsden.com).
In 2005, Mike appeared on the History Channel series Man, Moment, Machine episode about Andrew J. Higgins, the designer and builder of the vital landing craft used in World War II, and, as a script consultant for the episode, reviewed the material for accuracy.
His current projects include two unique books about the war in Iraq (due out in September 2011), and a second novel Admiral Raeder's War (available April 2011).
In different venue, Mike has produced a new version of the old song I'd Like to Find the Guy Who Named the Coast Guard originally written and recorded by Paul Yacich and the Coast Guard Band in 1945. The music has been lost, but working with Alison Freemen, this wonderfully humorous tune has been given a new lease on life and updated with three verses reflecting today's Coast Guard global missions.
He is an internationally recognized expert on World War II. His expertise also includes such diverse fields as leadership, international terror, trans-national crime, human trafficking, piracy and counter piracy operations as well as geo-political and military history.
Mike's hosting 2 shows on Hudson Cable Access TV (HUD-TV). The first, "On the LAMH" (Literature, Arts, and Music in Hudson) features area artists of all genres and community organizations that promote the arts. The second, "The SITREP" (Situation Report), offers information on current military, veterans, and emergency services throughout Massachusetts with the help a wide range of guests.
After graduating from Montclair State College with a BA in Biology, Mike served in the U.S. Coast Guard for six years as a commissioned officer and a senior petty officer. His assignments included buoy tending, search and rescue missions, search and rescue coordination, drug law enforcement, and oceanographic operations in the Arctic. As part of the Boarding Party and Prize Crew on two cutters he participated in the seizures of a Panamanian drug-runner and a Cuban fishing boat. His decorations include the U.S. Coast Guard Achievement Medal (Operational) for counter-drug operations, Arctic Service Medal, Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, and USCG Cutterman's Insignia.
Mike has spent more than 45 years collecting stories from veterans from World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq as well as those of pilots, merchant seaman, civilian personnel with NATO and EUFOR in the Balkans. His research has included visits to London; Sarajevo; Baska Voda, Croatia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; St. John's, Newfoundland; and New Orleans.
He can be reached through his web site: www.mikewalling.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Choke Points is High Seas Drama on Steroids!,
By Jim Gilliam (Warwick, New York) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Choke Points (Paperback)
Mike Walling's plotline is not just an exceedingly fast paced and very scary post 9/11 suspense thriller--I pray to God this never happens--it could be a horrific headline from the future.Like the author I am an ex-Coast Guardsman and even though it is a work of fiction this freight train Coast Guard action scenario is 100 percent credible. Walling develops his totally believeable characters very well and the fast paced suspenseful plot has more twists, turns, and suprises than the Snake River Canyon. In the Coast Guard I was stationed all over the world including most of the places mentioned in the book. I've just retired from the Navy's Military Sealift Command where I spent a lot of time deployed to the Middle East where I had the privilege of seeing the Coast Guard in action--believe me when I say that issues of maritime security were of constant concern to us in the Gulf especially after the bombing of the USS COLE. More than once I have heard the sound of one or more of the ship's 50 Cal. gun mounts firing warning shots when a small boat was approaching too close and too fast. From page one to the end the hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up. This is not a book that you read once and put down. This is a read again and again type of book that I would very much like to see on the big screen. Jim Gilliam
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast paced,
By
This review is from: Choke Points (Paperback)
The story begins with a rush and never lets up ! Mark Fletcher is believable and three-dimensioned, you really care what happens to him and his group. There's enough technicalities to keep men interested and enough female interaction to keep women page turning. I hope Mike writes more novels of this riveting genre!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great from start to finish,
By
This review is from: Choke Points (Paperback)
From start to finish Choke Points was entertaining. The realistic representation of what could really go wrong at our ports is one of the scariest notions in this post 9/11 world. The details were just right. The dialogue great. And the way the story was told over time was a intriguing vehicle. Can't wait to see what Walling comes up with next.
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