Praise for Larry BondGuaranteed to scare the hell out of you . . . you wont be able to put Fatal Thunder down 'til the last page! ---W. E. B. Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of Top SecretLarry Bond is the literary heir of Tom Clancy. ---Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of WarNo one is better than Larry Bond at writing the geopolitical military thriller. . . . [He] is a master story teller. The best, bar none! ---David Hagberg, New York Times bestselling author of Tower DownA superb storyteller . . . Bond, a former naval officer, seems to know everything about warfare, from the grunt in a foxhole to the fighter pilots far above the Earth. ---The New York Times on Red PhoenixNo writer living can produce the depth of political intrigue like Larry Bond. ---Clive Cussler, New York Times bestselling author of Crescent DawnThis ripped-from-the-headlines tale . . . shows once again [Bonds] absolute mastery of the military action novel.---Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Exit PlanAbout the AuthorLARRY BOND is the author of numerous New York Times bestselling thrillers, including Vortex, Cauldron, and The Enemy Within. A former Naval Intelligence officer, warfare analyst, and anti-submarine technology expert, he makes his home in Springfield, Virginia.Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.1EPIPHANY8 February 2013Uranium Enrichment Facility, Natanz, IranNatanz lay only 150 kilometers to the north of his headquarters in Isfahan, so General Moradi had flown up early in the morning with his aide, Captain Hejazi. Moradis staff had urged him to wait, to not rush up there the same day, that afternoon. They wont know anything, Colonel Nadali had warned. Theyll bury you in raw data and argue with each other.The general had learned to listen to Farzad Nadali, his chief of staff. The colonels patience and good humor complemented Moradis own fiery temperament. Nadali had counseled Moradi to wait until the scientists had something to tell him.So finally, two days later, they were flying north in an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Mi-17. Instead of jump seats for troops, the Russian-made transport helicopter was fitted for VIP travel, with increased soundproofing, comfortable seating, and fold-down work surfaces. A few hundred meters below them, the landscape was empty and broken, painted in shades of brown and gray, with stony hills rising from the left. It was still winter, and the morning cold did nothing to soften the desert landscape.Moradi had made the trip often, and hardly noticed the harsh beauty of the ground below. Instead, he studied a briefing prepared by the scientists and e-mailed to his headquarters that morning. The general was sure theyd been up all night working on it, but he was not sympathetic. A few more sleepless nights might have prevented this disaster.Captain Hejazis voice interrupted his review. Sir, Natanz is in sight. Moradi understood that his aide was referring to the uranium enrichment facility. Theyd spotted the town of Natanz proper five minutes ago. The facility was thirty kilometers farther to the north, surrounded by desert and rocky hills, but not isolated. Its front gate was just south of the Isfahan-Kashan road, a six-lane highway that actually passed through the outer ring of air defenses. A moment later the aide added, Major Sadi is monitoring our approach.Moradi nodded, acknowledging the report. Sadi was in charge of the facilitys air defenses, and simply because they were a scheduled flight didnt mean they couldnt be shot out of the sky.The enrichment site itself was a rough square, a kilometer and a half on each side. A perimeter fence enclosed the pilot enrichment plant, the gigantic buried centrifuge halls, and the support buildings for those two vital facilities.A few hundred meters out, a road paralleled the perimeter, connecting dozens of antiaircraft gun emplacements and watchtowers. Each gun position, a pair of manually aimed 23mm or 35mm autocannons, was ringed with sandbags and sited on an earthen mound to give it a better field of fire.Farther out, a second ring bristled with even more guns: larger four-gun batteries of 100mm weapons, radar-directed 35mm batteries, scores of the manually aimed guns, and half a dozen batteries of surface-to-air missiles. Three early warning radars covered Natanz and the surrounding area. It was possible that Natanz was the most heavily defended place in Iran, except, of course, for Tehran itself.And a lot of that was Moradis doing. Since hed been placed in charge of the nuclear weapons program five years ago, hed tripled the number of SAM batteries and ordered a second ring of antiaircraft guns placed around Natanz. Hed also handpicked Sadi for his post. The major was inexperienced, but competent, hardworkingand loyal.Moradi felt the helicopter descend, and he saved his notes and closed the laptop. As Hejazi packed up the generals computer, the helicopter hovered and then set down smoothly. The crew chief moved aft to open the side door, and Moradi remembered to remove his uniform cap before the rotor wash snatched it away.The blades slowed, and figures outside ran toward the open door. A few were ground crew, but most were officers, with a few civilians scattered through the group. Moradi recognized the Natanz facilitys commander, Colonel Zamanian, with his staff, including Sadi, and Nadali, whod arrived yesterday to manage the recovery and the investigation. Colonel Nadali was a great organizer, and hed been right to go ahead and manage things. Moradi knew hed probably have fired the lot on the spot.The officers immediately fell into two ranks, and the civilians wandered about for a few moments, deciding where to stand. There was more than a little tension between the scientists, engineers, and the military. The civilians seemed reluctant to fall in line, but finally formed a knot at one end, not quite in line, but not sticking out either.Nadali, whod placed himself at the near end of the front rank, saw Moradi appear in the open door and called Attention! The officers saluted as one, and even the civilians managed to stand a little straighter.Brigadier General Adel Moradi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Pasdaran, stepped from the helicopter. The Revolutionary governments propaganda machine had dubbed him The Lion of Karbala, for his bravery in the war with Iraq, but he knew his real nickname, the one his staff thought he didnt know about: The Rhino.Smoothly slipping on his uniform cap, Moradi returned the salute. His hat was a dark olive green ball cap, matching his fatigues and emblazoned with the emblem of the Pasdaran in gold thread. The symbol was repeated on his breast pocket.In his late fifties, Moradi was trim, almost athletic. His aide, Hejazi, was taller, but Moradi was still six foot one. Solidly built, his physical presence had always been an asset, both on the battlefield and in politics. Trimmed close, his beard was only lightly threaded with gray. It outlined a broad, weathered face that seemed to settle naturally into an impatient scowl.Nadali didnt wait for Moradi to speak. Shouting over the helicopters slowing turbines, the colonel reported, Were ready for you, sir. He pointed to a line of jeeps, and Moradi got into the lead vehicle without saying a word.As Colonel Nadali climbed in the backseat, Moradi asked him, Is there anything worth seeing at the pilot plant?Nadali shook his head sharply. No, sir, and as a matter of fact, theyre encouraging us to keep clear of the area while they make another sweep for radiation and toxicity. He saw Moradis expression and continued. When they spot-checked the first survey results, there were several errorsall underreporting.Moradis scowl deepened. When will they be done?They couldnt start until it was daylight this morning. It will be late this afternoon.Wonderful, Moradi rumbled. I wonder how many other mistakes theyve made. His tone made it clear that he was sure there were more. The other jeeps were pulling away, and Nadali ordered their driver to head for the administration building.Nadali took the general to a conference room. Pasdaran sentries, armed with automatic weapons, flanked the door, and Nadali led the staff inside. When one of the civilians tried to go in the room, Nadali waved him back. The scientists will brief the general in half an hour. We just have some housekeeping and organizational issues to go over. The civilian nodded nervously and hurried away.As soon as the general was seated, a middle-aged major looked over at Nadali, who nodded. The room has been swept, and is clear, the officer reported. The spaces on all sides of us, and above and below, are occupied by my people. Major Hassan Rahim was Moradis intelligence and counterintelligence officer. He also belonged to VEVAK, the Ministry of Intelligence, but although everyone knew it, nobody ever mentioned it.It was a careful sweep, Rahim? There are some clever people here, Nadali observed.Not from what Ive seen, Moradi countered. What have you found, Hassan?Rahim was a small officershort, and older than would be expected for a major. There were rumors that his real rank was much higher, but changed to match the assignment. His glasses gave him a professorial look, but his gaze was hard, and his tone cold. The centrifuges failed on their own, sir. I can find no sign of sabotage, either from foreign agents or someone inside.Its hard to prove the absence of something, Moradi offered.Rahim pulled out a notepad and flipped through the pages. This is already one of the most secure installations in Iran. My people have enhanced those measures. Weve been able to correlate the movements of everyone on base that day with the entrance and exit logs for each building. Dr. Sabet has helped us with scenarios for sabotage, and who would have the knowledge to perform it. Everyone on the list is being watched. Most have been questioned.Moradi nodded as he took in the information. Hed expected this result. If Rahim had found anything amiss, the perpetrators would have been arrested instantly. VEVAK might have different masters than the Shahs SAVAK, but they used the same methods.Could it have been that damned computer worm again?Unlikely, sir. I had every computer on the installation checked, as well as all personal computers in the dormitories. Every CD and flash drive was also examined. There was no sign of the Stuxnet worm. As you recall, we found this worm on dozens of computers when the cyber attack was first discovered three years ago, remarked Rahim.Stuxnet was a devilishly effective piece of malware that sought out and attacked the motor controllers on the centrifuges, causing them to under... can you download books for free Exit Plan: A Jerry Mitchell Novel
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful. SolidBy ToolmanLarry Bond has been slipping quite a bit lately, what with the co-authored books which are kind of lame and seemed to have just become another has been. In Exit Plan, though, Bond brings back his A game. He must have written this one himself. I could hardly put it down. It even seemed realistic. Very good SEAL action, naval action, submarine warefare...this book has it all it seems.However, perhaps most interesting is the outstanding job the author does of describing the terrain inside Iran. Not sure if Bond just did a great job in research, or if he actually was foolish enough to visit the country in person and risk his rear end. (It seems to me he may very well have been there).To summarize, I liked this book a lot, and can only hope his books will be this good from now on.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Another good installment in the "Jerry Mitchell" seriesBy Roger J. BuffingtonThis is yet another good yarn in Larry Bond's "Jerry Mitchell" series. It is hard to write a review of this novel while still adhering to my rigid practice of not including spoilers in my review. Suffice to say that most of the storyline here occurs in Iran, where Mitchell and a Seal Team are escaping and evading pursuing Iranian Islamic forces. As such, the story is quite gripping and has a realistic flavor to it. Bond's characterization of the Seal Team leader is a bit odd -- the fellow appears to be a prima donna of sorts; not what one expects of a professional Seal in the middle of a mission. The reader can decide for him or her self whether this rings authentic or not.One interesting thing here is that for the first time in several installments, this novel gives us a glimpse of Mitchell's personal life. No spoilers here. While short to the point of being perfunctory, at least the reader learns a little bit about Mitchell outside of his naval career.Overall this is a quite good yarn and I am hooked on the "Jerry Mitchell" series. RJB.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A pretty solid yarn, focusing on SEAL ops.By Randomly Awesome Guy(Side note, I've read the other two books prior to this one. You may want to read them to fill in the background of some of the characters, but it's not 100% necessary to enjoy this one.)This book is the third entry to the "Jerry Mitchell" series written by Larry Bond/Chris Carlson. It continues several years after the events in the previous book in the series, Cold Choices.This time the series puts SEAL team operations into focus, with a few sub ops stuff thrown in. While it might seem as an odd choice for a character mainly known for overall submarine operations, SEAL ops actually are becoming a bigger part of the sub ops pie, or so Wikipedia tells me. ;)In any case, the change of pace is actually somewhat refreshing. The book covers the supposed defection of two Iranian nationals, and it must be done by a specific timeline or else Bad Things (TM) will happen. Things get further complicated and a quick snatch and grab is scrubbed and things get messier.Overall the characters remain believable without being overly two dimensional, but only just. Oddly enough you get more character development out of the Iranian nationals than the supposed main character, but honestly he's just basically along for the ride.I will say this, the book is well-researched, and the standard operating procedures (SOP) of the SEAL teams are completely believable and actually do give you a glimpse into the mindset and warfare style of these special operators. You can't help but to have respect for them and their mission, and you do find yourself rooting for them.That being said, the book actually moves along at a really nice pace, and doesn't get too bogged down in any one specific area. One tiny thing, as I read along I find myself wishing they had included a small map of the area to get a feel for where what was. Everything was named correctly but I found myself at a loss as to where they were, places they were going to, things they were referring to, etc.. Still, if you happen to be familiar with the area, I guess it would make more sense. As it were they might as well be anywhere else on the planet. ;)Overall I firmly believe the book deserved four out of five stars. It was worth my nine bucks, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series (Shattered Trident, already released as of 08/20/13). However, if you're looking for more submarine-specific stuff like the previous two books, you may want to think about it. Otherwise, it was a good yarn. :)