Amazon Burning (A James Acton Thriller, #10) (40 page)

As I watched the World Cup, rediscovering my love of soccer (yes,
soccer!), I began to think of the Amazon and the proverbial fish out of water.
I lived in West Germany for seven years from the ages eight to fifteen while my
father was stationed there. We lived on what was called “the economy”, which
meant we lived among the Germans, rather than on base, my parents wisely
wanting to embrace the culture rather than live in some microcosm of our own
behind a fence.

From my
bedroom window there was a beautiful soccer field within sight, kids playing on
it all the time, soccer fields in Europe like baseball diamonds in
America—everywhere.

In our
small town of Hugsweier there were pretty much only German kids there, so if I
wanted to have any fun, I’d need to learn the language and play with the German
kids.

When in
Rome.

The
German kids were fantastic, and I learned to play soccer, learned the language,
and quite quickly I was fairly fluent in German, and a damned good soccer
player. I had my favorite team (Bayern München) and my favorite player (Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge) and learned to love soccer while making friends, learning a
language and discovering a culture.

All
because a small English speaking kid had the courage to step out onto a soccer
field and ask in broken German if he could play.

While
thinking of the World Cup, Brazil and the Amazon (yes, this is going
somewhere!), I thought of the uncontacted tribes, and the kernel of a story
began. What would happen if some lonely member of one of these tribes were to
step out of the forest and ask for help like that little boy asking to play?

What is
remarkable about this novel is that after I was about half way finished, news
broke about an uncontacted tribe actually making contact due to a massacre at
their village committed by Peruvian illegal loggers. As has proven true far too
often, once again one of my books had been “torn from the headlines” but before
the headlines were even written (remember The Arab Fall where I predicted the
return of the military to power in Egypt? It happened about two weeks after I
published.)

Then of
course I have to torture my characters. What would happen if Laura were
kidnapped by one of these natives? How would our heroes manage when their
technology couldn’t help them?

I think
it turned out to be a lot of fun, and I’m hoping you agree.

While
writing this a great sadness occurred that as a writer, I helped deal with
through my writing. My best friend of over twenty years, Paul Conway, succumbed
to complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and died. He was my first boss when
I arrived here fresh out of university, and we became friends very quickly,
talking to or seeing each other four or five times a week for those decades,
until he became quite sick. His death less than two months ago still haunts me,
and I miss him dearly.

The
character Pol in this book is a small tribute to him, he always being there for
me during the good times and the bad, just as he was for Tuk. And to this day I
am still haunted by the fact I missed his last phone call to me, when he knew
he was dying, just as Tuk missed Pol’s last request to talk to him. I never did
get to talk to my friend again. Part of me is devastated by this, but I cling
to the memory of our last conversation. He was too sick to see me, but he
sounded healthy—he was having a good day. We talked for over forty minutes
about anything but his illness. It was a perfectly normal conversation like the
old days, discussing things like political correctness gone mad, and whether or
not we’d still find Eddie Murphy’s Delirious funny today now that so much of it
would now be considered politically incorrect. That conversation is what I will
try to remember, rather than the one I missed. I love you buddy, and you’ll
never be forgotten.

As
always people need to be thanked. My father once again for the research, Brent
Richards for some military lingo and weapons info, Fred Newton for some
nautical terms and boat info, and Sherrie Men for some Chinese cultural info.

And as
always, to my wife, daughter, parents and friends, thank you once again for
your support. And to you the readers, thank you! You’ve all made this possible.

To those
who have not already done so, please visit my website at
www.jrobertkennedy.com
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Thank
you once again for reading.

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Check out the new Delta Force Unleashed series and get to know Bravo Team some more.
Get started with
Payback (Delta Force Unleashed #1)
today!

Why not try the Special Agent Dylan Kane spin-off series?
Dylan Kane
is a former student of James Acton and before being recruited into the CIA, served and trained
under Burt "Big Dog" Dawson with Delta Team Bravo. Acton has a cameo in Rogue Operator, and Dawson
and the boys appear in Containment Failure, Cold Warriors and Death to America.
Get started with
Rogue Operator (Dylan Kane #1)
today!

USA Today bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy has been ranked by Amazon as the #1 Bestselling Action Adventure
novelist based upon combined sales. He is the author of over twenty international bestsellers including the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series of
which the first installment,
The Protocol
, has been on the bestseller list in the US and UK since its release,
including occupying the number one spot for three months. He lives with his wife and daughter and writes full-time.

Visit Robert's website at
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For two thousand years the Triarii have protected us, influencing history from the crusades to the discovery of America.
Descendent from the Roman Empire, they pervade every level of society, and are now in a race with our own government to retrieve an ancient
artifact thought to have been lost forever.

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A nuclear missile, lost during the Cold War, is now in play--the most public spy swap in history,
with a gorgeous agent the center of international attention, triggers the end-game of a corrupt Soviet Colonel's
twenty five year plan. Pursued across the globe by the Russian authorities, including a brutal Spetsnaz unit, those
involved will stop at nothing to deliver their weapon, and ensure their pay day, regardless of the terrifying consequences.

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With the Triarii in control of the Roman Catholic Church, an organization founded by Saint Peter himself takes action,
murdering one of the new Pope's operatives. Detective Chaney, called in by the Pope to investigate, disappears, and, to the
horror of the Papal staff sent to inform His Holiness, they find him missing too, the only clue a secret chest,
presented to each new pope on the eve of their election, since the beginning of the Church.

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The Vault must be sealed, but a construction accident leads to a miraculous discovery--an ancient tomb
containing four Templar Knights, long forgotten, on the grounds of the Vatican. Not knowing who they can trust, the Vatican
requests Professors James Acton and Laura Palmer examine the find, but what they discover, a precious Islamic relic,
lost during the Crusades, triggers a set of events that shake the entire world, pitting the two greatest religions against each other.
At risk is nothing less than the Vatican itself, and the rock upon which it was built.

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Archaeology Professor James Acton simply wants to get away from everything, and relax.
A trip to China seems just the answer, and he and his fiancée, Professor Laura Palmer, are soon on a flight to Beijing.
But while boarding, they bump into an old friend, Delta Force Command Sergeant Major Burt Dawson, who surreptitiously
delivers a message that they must meet the next day, for Dawson knows something they don’t. China is about to erupt into chaos.

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An accidental find by a friend of Professor James Acton may lead to the greatest archaeological discovery
since the tomb of King Tutankhamen, perhaps even greater. And when news of it spreads, it reaches the ears of a group
hell-bent on the destruction of all idols and icons, their mere existence considered blasphemous to Islam.