The Devil's Mandarin

A British spy sent into the world's newest communist country on an assassination operation discovers that the target is his own half-brother, Alois. The People's Democratic Republic has saber-rattled its South American neighbors since its inception. The Secret Intelligence Service, and certain Western partners, decide the PDR's "Great Leader" must be removed. They send Jensen Brownfield in under a fake defection or "dangle." He is to establish a trade with his new controllers, gather intel, and find a way to execute ESAPADA, or "sword," the cryptonym for the operation. Shelly Blanchard, who Jensen loves but suspects of being a double agent, warns him the Great Leader is a complete mystery. There are no pictures of him. Only his voice echoes from the public PA system. As the Englishman maneuvers inside the PDR, he sees the Great Leader speak in person for the first time. It's devastating. His half-brother, who had gone missing in the revolution, is the Great Leader. Alois explains how it happened. But he's a man who keeps secrets. Jensen remains skeptical about his half-brother's rise to power. As he begins to unravel the strange new world around him, he must decide between staying loyal to the half-brother he loves or executing the Great Leader he has become.