Don't Pity Me

"Al-Qaida," he said. "Is good for you to know who killed you." "American," I said. "Good for you to know who's going to take your head off." "Tuco," I whispered into the headset, and in that moment, the man's head came apart in a mist of blood, bone, and brain matter, as a watermelon smashed to the ground. Crete Sloan lives alone on an island in the Bahamian Atlantic. Bimini is to the west, the Berry Islands to the east. He is a mercenary who fights wars for the good guys. Private wars, not government wars. Someone steals your million-dollar Ferrari LaFerrari. The local cops can't locate it. Interpol can't find it. Sloan brings it back-for half its value. A slice of human debris kills your wife in a carjacking gone sour. You want justice. Sloan gets it for you. Sloan is pulled into action when his friend Deke McCain is captured by al-Qaida warriors and held for ransom in Kabul, Afghanistan. McCain is the founder and CEO of the Pittsburgh Pump & Valve, a major manufacturing operation located in Pittsburgh, PA. Sloan travels to Kabul to negotiate with the al-Qaida captors for McCain's release. The ransom is pocket change for McCain's company, and the company is willing to pay. But in Kabul, Sloan is beaten, humiliated, and run out of town. Bad move by the al-Qaida warriors. Forced back to Pittsburgh empty-handed, Sloan recruits a team of mercenaries, the boys from the old neighborhood, to go up against all of al-Qaida in an effort to free McCain. When the al-Qaida warriors gain an upper hand, Sloan risks his own life to save his friend's. Or die trying.