Chasing the White Lion, James Hannibal [ebook reader macos .TXT] 📗
- Author: James Hannibal
Book online «Chasing the White Lion, James Hannibal [ebook reader macos .TXT] 📗». Author James Hannibal
She couldn’t help but laugh. Good old Eddie. “It’s not offensive. Don’t be such a snowflake.”
“You’re the snowflake.” Eddie wiped Franklin’s now somewhat less special pen on his jeans and handed it over. “Now hurry up and sign the forms so we can eat.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Real Heroes
I JUMPEDFORJOY, right there in the airport, wearing my best business suit. A TSA security guard gave me a sidelong glance, but I didn’t care. Compassion International had said yes, and I had the same rush I’d felt years before when *REDACTED* from *REDACTED* tapped me on the shoulder and offered me a special assignment.
With Compassion International’s permission to give them a starring role in a spy novel, I had an opportunity to contribute to God’s special ops team. Allow me to explain, and when I’m finished, I hope you’ll consider being a part of this team too.
Let’s talk about unconventional warfare.
Authors are prone to exaggeration, but in this case, the comparison is valid. Unconventional warfare is multipronged and synergistic. Likewise, Compassion combats child poverty along multiple avenues like health care, nutrition, education, spiritual development, and confidence building. They serve the whole child.
Unconventional warfare is quiet warfare. Compassion operates in the background through local churches—more than 7500 in 25 countries at the time of this writing. The local church remains the focal point of love and help in the community. The glory goes to God, not Compassion.
And like any good unconventional warfare team (Talia, Tyler, and company included), Compassion leverages the power of personal relationships to achieve a strategic objective. Through sponsorships, they are defeating global poverty one child—one relationship—at a time.
Unconventional warfare. God’s special ops. Real heroes with a major impact.
You can be part of the team.
Becoming a Compassion child sponsor is not just about giving $38 a month. Through the exchange of letters, sponsors build a one-on-one relationship with a child. This love fosters a sense of self-worth and identity that is foundational in the child’s battle against poverty and makes them less susceptible to tangible threats like human trafficking.
I write escapist fiction about pretend heroes. The lives Talia and Tyler save are in our shared imagination, yours and mine. But Compassion child sponsors change real lives. They save real lives. A child sponsor is a real hero. If you’re ready to become one of these heroes today, visit www.compassion.com.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GODISGREAT. God is good. And he demonstrates this to me daily. My ability and opportunity to write are the direct result of God’s goodness. Thank you, Lord.
There are, of course, many others to whom and for whom I’m grateful.
I’ve said it many times. My wife Cindy is my first-line editor, my cheerleader, and my shoulder to cry on. She keeps me on task and quietly shakes her head when I hand her a chapter with a spectacled bear (long story, different series). I love her, and cannot write (or live) without her.
Revell is staffed with amazing professionals. I am blessed to have Andrea Doering, Barb Barnes, Michele Misiak, Brianne Dekker, Karen Steele, and the rest. I’m also blessed to have an agent like Harvey Klinger. As with my other characters, he had a hand in Talia’s genesis.
Some unnamed folks helped me with the Agency scenes. They’re in undisclosed locations, shaking their collective heads. An old military buddy, Brian Andrews, became my boots-on-the-ground in Bangkok. Dr. Jeremy Evans became my go-to counselor. Thanks to all of you. And thanks to Steven James and DiAnn Mills, who’ve given so much of their time to mentor me. Come to think of it, DiAnn’s critique group members helped with this book as well. It pays to have folks willing to read your work aloud and tell you when it’s terrible.
Finally, there are the usual suspects behind my novels: Todd and Susie, John and Nancy, Chris and Melinda, Seth and Gavin, Danika and Dennis, Rachel and Katie, James and Ashton, Nancy and Dan, Steve and Tawnya, Randy and Hulda, and the Barons. So many encouragers. I love you all.
JAMES R. HANNIBAL is no stranger to secrets and adventure. A former stealth pilot from Houston, Texas, he has been shot at, locked up with surface-to-air missiles, and chased down a winding German road by an armed terrorist. He is a two-time Silver Falchion Award winner for his Section 13 mysteries for kids and a Thriller Award nominee for his Nick Baron covert ops series for adults. The author of The Gryphon Heist, James is a rare multisense synesthete, meaning all his senses intersect. He sees and feels sounds and smells, and hears flashes of light. If he tells you the chocolate cake you offered smells blue and sticky, take it as a compliment.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover
Praise for The Gryphon Heist
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
LIST OF PAGES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
Table of Contents
Cover
Praise for The Gryphon Heist
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Table of Contents
Cover
Praise for The Gryphon Heist
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Comments (0)