The Hydra Protocol: A Jim Chapel Mission

Wellington’s inventive sequel to 2013’s Chimera teams Capt. Jim Chapel, of U.S. Military Intelligence, with Russian spy Nadia Asimova. The pair must find and disable a computer system known as the Dead Hand (or Perimeter to the Russians), a Cold War relic located at an unknown location in Kazakhstan. Certain conditions could cause Perimeter to think Russia is under attack and automatically fire all its missiles at the U.S. “The resulting fallout and nuclear winter would mean the end of the world,” Chapel learns at his Pentagon briefing. Of course, the mission isn’t that simple, and cross and double cross are the order of the day, as Chapel tries to work out who is friend and who is foe. He has two secret weapons: a bionic left arm and a controller known as Angel, whom he knows only from radio transmissions. Plenty of twists and rolling action keep the pages turning. Agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency. (May)