Endangered Species: PART 1 (16 page)

“
Did you ever see him slice
someone up?”

“
Of course not, but, as I
said, I heard stories from the other members of the unit. There was
one firefight where he supposedly used his
katana
exclusively. When it was over,
his personal body count was said to have been more than thirty. His
colleagues said he was a spinning, slashing blur. Heads and limbs
were flying everywhere, and blood flowed in torrents. He even
sliced two of his armed opponents completely in half.”

“
Damn! ‘Bloodlust’ might
have been a euphemism.”

“
There really isn’t a term
to describe it, Mitch.”

“
I’ll remember that if I’m
ever around any of those guys.”

“
Mitch, you would do well
to remember that, as deadly as they all were, there was someone
most of them looked up to with respect, perhaps even
fear.”

“
Who was that?”

“
Brendan
Whelan.”

Coming Next in the Sleeping
Dogs Series of Political Thrillers

by author John Wayne
Falbey

THE YEAR OF THE
DOG

Will Levell survive his wounds to lead his
group of patriots in the good fight against the forces seeking the
destruction of nation states and the formation of a one-world
government? Or is the AGU too far along in its plan to seize global
power? Will the USA become a weak third-rate power? Can Whelan
reunite the Dogs? Does he even want to? Has Mitch Christie really
gone over to the other side? Will Maksym succeed in eliminating the
Dogs? Or will Larsen have his vengeance on the man who killed his
family? Is Whelan’s family safe in Ireland? Is Federov really dead?
Will Nadir Shah succeed in creating an Islamic caliphate that
encompasses the entire Middle East and beyond? Can the Russian
president succeed in rebuilding the former Soviet Union? What
factor will the Chinese play in the Year of the Dog? What new
global problems emerge in the weeks and months ahead?

These issues and more will be addressed as
the Year of the Dog arrives on an already explosive international
scene.

A Note From The
Author

This novel is a work of
fiction and isn’t intended to preach, or to praise or condemn any
specific political philosophy. It’s just a story. It was
fabricated, however, on events occurring in the U.S., and globally,
in today’s headlines. It tells the story from the perspectives of
various players. Likewise, any resemblance to persons living or
dead is purely coincidental. What is not entirely fictional,
however, is the theory of genetics explored in the book. It’s based
on considerable research, but does include a certain amount of
speculation. The statement that scientists have determined that
those with Western European bloodlines have some Neanderthal DNA is
true.
The European Early Modern Humans, or
EEMH, from whom all those of European ancestry descended, interbred
with the Neanderthal. These early Homo sapiens ancestors were as
large as humans today, and they were more powerful and physically
robust. Intriguingly, their brains were one-eighth larger than
modern man’s.

Reading Group Guide is
available at:
www.sleepingdogs.biz/reading-group-guide.html
.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Throughout school, I received top grades for my writing
efforts. My English teachers and creative writing instructors
uniformly encouraged me to write. But, like John Lennon famously
said about life, I was “busy doing other things.” Now I enjoy
writing and work continuously to become better at my craft, but the
story isn’t all about me.
There are many
people to whom I am especially grateful. Not the least of which are
my readers. I write for you.

A great many people have contributed to the
experiences that have shaped me as an individual, and developed the
perspectives that shape my writing. I’m grateful to all of them,
even the ones who were involved in the not so pleasant experiences.
Each of us, after all, is the product of the sum total of our life
experiences.

Without doubt, the most important person in
my life is my wife, “Annie”. She has been my most ardent supporter
in this effort.

My dad, a self-described (tongue-in-cheek)
“fine Irish bastard”, played a major role in my desire to write. He
encouraged my thirst for adventure stories as a youngster. More
importantly, he totally freaked out when, at about age ten, I
announced that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I remember
the salient bits and pieces of his diatribe: “freeze to death…bare,
unheated attic…starvation…no friends…no money”. It was a blessing
in disguise. I spent years moving in other directions and gained
much valuable experience and insight, which, hopefully, have made
me a better chronicler of the human condition.

At a very early age, my mother taught me to
read and took me to the local library where I was introduced to a
vast treasure trove of adventure. She also instilled in me
toughness in the face of challenges, an unwillingness to settle for
second best.

Our son Ryan, an articulate, intelligent
young man, spent many hours proofreading my efforts and offering
valuable comments and suggestions, including cover art and layout.
Do not be surprised to see his name on bestseller lists one
day.

I owe a special thanks to my beta readers:
Joe Braden, Jim McGowan, Ryan, and others. I don’t publish until
they’ve read it.

I’m grateful to
Caitlin Alexander, a former editor at Random
House and freelance editor for independent authors. She provided
invaluable
developmental and line edits,
feedback and constructive suggestions for improvement on reader
engagement, structure, narrative voice, dialogue, pacing, plot,
character development, suspense, and marketability, with a
particular eye toward tightening the manuscript to a more
commercially viable length.

My thanks also to Tatiana Villa at Vila
Design for her creativity and talent in designing the cover of the
book.

* * *

For current information on my works in
progress, and more, visit SleepingDogs.biz and sign up for my short
and occasional newsletter.

About the Author

John Wayne Falbey writes
techno-political spy thrillers and adventure novels. His debut
novel,
Sleeping Dogs: The
Awakening
, has become an international best
seller on Amazon.com and was endorsed by Compulsory Reads. He also
is the author of
The
Quixotics
, a tale of gunrunning, guerilla
warfare, and danger in the Caribbean. A native Floridian and former
transactional attorney, Falbey is a real estate investor and
developer in Southwest Florida. As his wife likes to say, Wayne has
“more degrees than a thermometer,” (4) including a doctorate in
business. He actually spent five years in the “enemy camp”—creating
and chairing a Master of Science program in real estate development
at an academic institution in Florida. He invites you to connect
with him at
www.sleepingdogs.biz
, where
you can sign up for his newsletter announcing publication dates,
signings and appearances, and other matters relating to the
Sleeping Dogs thrillers and other novels by the author.

Connect with me
online:
http://Twitter.com/jwfalbey
https://www.facebook.com
/wayne.falbey
[email protected]