Synopsis of The Leopard of Cairo (Amazon):
John Viera left his CIA fieldwork hoping for a “normal” occupation and a long-awaited family, but when a Pakistani engineer is kidnapped from a top-secret US project and diplomatic entanglements tie the government’s hands, the Intelligence Community turns to John and his team of ex-operatives to investigate — strictly off the books. They uncover a plot of unprecedented magnitude that will precipitate the slaughter of millions.
From the corporate skyscrapers of Montreal to the treacherous alleys of Baluchistan, these formidable enemies strike, determined to create a regional apocalypse and permanently alter the balance of world power. Isolated in their knowledge of the impending devastation, John and his network stand alone between total destruction and the Leopard of Cairo.
This is the first book in the Apex Predator series.
Synopsis of The Caiman of Iquitos (Amazon):
In a chilling continuation of their Apex Predator novels, Bayard & Holmes compel us into the darkest corners of the Shadow World. A world where billionaires are not subject to governments and assassins, rogue nations, and terrorists are their tools to obtain global dominance. In an explosion of unrelenting action, one man and his team risk everything to protect the Western world.
Former CIA Operations Officer John Viera is doing his best to lead a “normal” life and start a family. Fate has other ideas.
When a Russian ship is mysteriously torpedoed off the coast of Peru, untracked enriched uranium is revealed within its cargo. Protecting his family’s multi-billion dollar business interests, the US president blocks agency investigations into the incident. Top intelligence officials covertly call in John Viera and his unofficial network of former operatives to uncover the new player on the nuclear chessboard. What they discover threatens the annihilation of the West.
From the jungles of the Amazon to the Sea of Japan, John and his network are the only ones who stand between international security and the Caiman of Iquitos.
This is the second book in the Apex Predator series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Guest Post Bayard & Holmes
As Bayard & Holmes, we are known for accuracy in our espionage tradecraft. This is due to Jay Holmes’s fifty years of military and intelligence experience fighting against the Soviets and the terrorist groups they sponsored during the Cold War, straight through to the current Global War on Terror. As a result of our experience and authenticity, people like to ask us questions about the shadow world.
One of the common questions we receive is, “What are some of the most common mistakes writers make about the CIA?” The answer to that would be vocabulary.
Our espionage professionals at the CIA do not refer to themselves as spies. The word “spy” is considered a bit derogatory. As Holmes says, “Spying is seamy. It’s what the Russians do.” Technically, spies are foreigners who are spying on us, or they are foreigners who are spying on other countries for us.
Also, and this is a big one for the folks at the CIA, the intelligence personnel at the Agency are not “CIA agents.” In the world of the CIA, agents are people, most often foreigners, who are spying for our behalf on their own or other foreign governments.
The exceptions to that rule are the actual guards at the physical facilities. For example, if you were to go to headquarters, the personnel in security who would greet you at the gate are “CIA agents.” An easy rule of thumb is that if the position someone holds regards law enforcement, physical protection, or facilities security, they are agents.
In other words, Jack Ryan is not a CIA agent, but the guard he talks to at the front gate of headquarters is an agent, and the foreign spy who gives him information is an agent.
Instead of being spies or agents, our intelligence personnel are referred to as “officers” and “operatives.” Intelligence personnel at the CIA are technically called officers, which is a label particular to the CIA. CIA officers are actual employees of the CIA rather than contractors, and they get pretty touchy when you call them agents.
The term operative can apply to CIA officers and contractors, as well as to personnel from other civilian and military intelligence organizations. The term is rather vague and has no official definition, but it generally refers to men and women who work in field operations.
So to sum things up, Jack Ryan is not a spy or an agent, he is a CIA officer who must guard against foreign spies, collect intelligence from foreign agents, and sometimes goes into the field with operatives.
This is just one example of the accuracy that is the hallmark of our Bayard & Holmes fiction. To supplement, we have a Truth & Fiction section at the end of The Leopard of Cairo and all our novels, and we are happy to take your questions about the shadow world at the Contact page at our website, BayardandHolmes.com.
About the Authors
Piper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney with a college degree or two. She is also a belly dancer and a former hospice volunteer. She has been working daily with her good friend Jay Holmes for the past decade, learning about foreign affairs, espionage history, and field techniques for the purpose of writing fiction and nonfiction. She currently pens espionage nonfiction and international spy thrillers with Jay Holmes, as well as post-apocalyptic fiction of her own.
Jay Holmes is a forty-five-year veteran of field espionage operations with experience spanning from the Cold War fight against the Soviets, the East Germans, and the various terrorist organizations they sponsored to the present Global War on Terror. He is unwilling to admit to much more than that. Piper is the public face of their partnership.
Together, Bayard & Holmes author non-fiction articles and books on espionage and foreign affairs, as well as fictional international spy thrillers. They are also the bestselling authors of The Spy Bride from the Risky Brides Bestsellers Collection and were featured contributors for Social In Worldwide, Inc.
When they aren’t writing or, in Jay’s case, busy with “other work,” Piper and Jay are enjoying time with their families, hiking, exploring back roads of America, talking foreign affairs, laughing at their own rude jokes until the wee hours, and questing for the perfect chocolate cake recipe.
Website: https://bayardandholmes.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/piper.bayard
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PiperBayard
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Goodreads:
Leopard: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71953522-the-leopard-of-cairo
Caiman: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206323749-the-caiman-of-iquitos
Praise:
“Wild adventure, delicious storytelling, tradecraft that only the insiders know. An excellent reminder that great spies tell great stories. The Leopard of Cairo is Bayard and Holmes’ best one yet. Do not miss the Truth and Fiction section at the back.”
~ Annie Jacobson, Writer/Producer of Jack Ryan
“This is a tightly woven thriller, and as an author, I appreciate the capability of Ms. Bayard (and Holmes) to blend seamlessly the personal lives and the dangers in the field for the main characters as well as those within the novel.”
– Claire O’Sullivan, author of the Whiskey River Mysteries
““Bayard and Holmes’s The Leopard of Cairo is everything I love in a story: action, intrigue, exotic locations. Here is a lightning-fast tale of intrigue, lies, and the mother-of-all terrorist plots. Big story, big adventure, big thumbs-up!””
—James Rollins, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Sigma Force series
