Authorpreneur Dashboard – Kim Aleksander
False Positives
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
In 1972, a gifted student at Berkeley writes the first computer virus. When it’s run on the university mainframe it simply vanishes. Thirty-five years later, a government computer system issues ostensibly baseless assassination orders, and its creator goes in search of the ghost in the machine. What she discovers is a legacy black-ops program from the Vietnam Era that is alive and killing today. As she fights to prevent her brainchild from becoming a weapon for government-sanctioned murder, Marnie McCloud is pitted against adversaries hell-bent on wielding the machine with Machiavellian ruthlessness to achieve their political ambitions. Joined by an eclectic band of characters, she plots to bring down the system before it is used to start a war of biblical proportions, and in doing so, she becomes marked for termination by her own creation.
Book Bubbles from False Positives
PIT Maneuver
The Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT, Maneuver is a pursuit tactic by which a pursuing vehicle can force a fleeing vehicle to abruptly turn sideways, causing the driver to lose control and stop. In some cases, the car doesn't stop and causes a deadly accident. We've seen this maneuver in countless movies and TV shows executed by trained stuntmen. Interestingly and conspiratorially, it is also attributed to to the execution of people unfortunate enough to have wound up on government death lists.
Enemies foreign and domestic.
In his thriller, SUM OF ALL FEARS, Tom Clancy described a nuclear attack at the Super Bowl. Thankfully, that has never come to be; however, in DEBT OF HONOR, a jet airliner was flown into the Capitol building (oddly not by jihadists, but by an embittered Japanese pilot) killing the entire presidential line of succession as well as most of Congress. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf said in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 how the attack was right out of a Tom Clancy novel. Tom Clancy also commented on CNN about the very close similarity between the events in the novel and those attacks.
TATP: "The Mother of Satan."
Acetone Peroxide, or TATP, is one of the most elusive explosives used in many deadly terrorist acts of the last few decades. TATP is relatively easy to make and has been used in suicide attacks and in improvised explosive devices. Due to its high susceptibility to accidental detonation by shock, friction, or sparks, acetone peroxide has earned the nickname "Mother of Satan" among certain Islamist militant groups.
Paradise and jet fuel: the scent of U-Tapao.
U-Tapao's role during the Vietnam War, of course, is well-known. Approximately 49,000 US military personnel were based in Thailand at six major air bases, including U-Tapao, from which 400 US Air Force aircraft flew missions over Cambodia, Laos and North and South Vietnam. During this period, U-Tapao hosted over 100 B-52 bombers on temporary duty from bases throughout the US. Military operations at the base ceased following communist victories in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. U-Tapao today still operates and hosts commercial flights as well. It is literally right on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. There is a certain aroma created by the mix of jungle and jet fuel. In Honolulu, this is mixed with plumeria flowers. For Milas, it was the smell of paradise.
The National Counterterrorism Center
The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is an actual organization located in McLean, Virginia. It was established by Presidential Executive Order 13354 in August 2004, and codified by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). NCTC implements a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission: “Breaking the older mold of national government organizations, this NCTC should be a center for joint operational planning and joint intelligence, staffed by personnel from the various agencies.” It actually is constructed in the shape of a giant X; however, there is no underground visitor parking.
