Code Name Thunderhead

by M.R. Shinavier

It is early 1947. The West is calling upon Moscow to honor its promises to give back the territory it has seized in Eastern Europe during World War Two. But the Soviet Union is determined to keep a buffer zone around its borders for protection. As a result, a state of “Cold War” exists between the West and the Communist Soviet Union. Into this tinderbox of fragile diplomacy a former US Army Air Corps fighter ace is thrust. Despite being a brilliant and exceptional pilot, James Miller has an unrewarding military career during World War Two—disaster, divorce, alcohol, and eventually the stockade. And Miller’s luck doesn’t improve once the war ends.His air charter business goes bust, which leads to trouble once again with little hope of the situation improving. A mysterious government agent offers a way out; fly dangerous covert missions for an unnamed US agency. Miller realizes that the only thing he’d ever been good at was flying and fighting. With nothing to lose, he takes the offer and plunges into the world of Cold War intrigue.Miller excels at the extremely dangerous method of low altitude flying in extremely foul weather. He is assigned to England with a front company called AngloAir. By day conducting relief missions to a war ravaged Europe. By night, and in the worst weather, infiltrating communist controlled Eastern Europe airspace to test Soviet air defenses, drop agents behind the Iron Curtain, and perform daring extractions.As his effectiveness and expertise grows, Soviet patience evaporates. Soon Miller is on the defensive as Soviet assassins are sent against him and air defenses stiffen. Desperate to eliminate Miller and his abilities, the Soviets turn to Miller’s past in an all out effort to stamp him out—attempting to recruit arguably the most effective Luftwaffe fighter pilot to have ever flown, Axel Voss. Miller and Voss have a bitter, bloody history spanning from when they fought as enemies over Africa during the war, and as rivals for a hidden treasure of Nazi gold at war’s end. The brilliant but mad Voss likens his and Miller’s relationship as knights competing on a chivalric field of battle, and regards Miller as his greatest challenger.Miller battles his way through the skies of Europe, the streets of England, and deep behind the Iron Curtain, culminating in a daring mission to acquire previously unknown top-secret German weapons. This technology could be used to tip the balance of power if acquired by the, as yet, non-nuclear Soviets. In the air and on the ground of a hidden German installation, the West and the Soviets clash in a confrontation that could spark World War Three.

377 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2011