Syren's Song
A Connor Stark Novel
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- $29.99
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- $29.99
Publisher Description
Syren’s Song is the second novel featuring Connor Stark, and it promises to be just as engaging as The Aden Effect. This geopolitical thriller begins when the Sri Lankan navy is unexpectedly attacked by a resurgent and separatist Tamil Tiger organization. The government issues a letter of marque to former U.S. Navy officer Connor Stark, now the head of the private security company Highland Maritime Defense. Stark and his eclectic compatriots accept the challenge only to learn that the Sea Tigers who crippled the Sri Lankan navy are no ordinary terrorists. The Sea Tigers have created a new weapon that not even the West possesses, fueling it with a previously undiscovered element. By creating a localized electro-magnetic pulse (EMP), the group and its ruthless leader, Vanni, can effectively neutralize any ship, airplane, or missile. With this weapon they’re poised to instigate instability throughout the region. Half a world away a U.S. diplomatic security agent is found murdered and the Iranian-born Damien Golzari is tasked with the investigation. He finds more than just murder, uncovering a conspiracy connected to the Sea Tigers and their new weapon. Meanwhile in the forests of Sri Lanka a veteran journalist gets close to uncovering the Sea Tigers mining operation. She learns that they are using local children as laborers, but before she can find out what they are mining, she is discovered by the Sea Tigers. Connor Stark sets out aboard Syren, a former Navy experimental vessel now the flagship of Highland Maritime. Stark and his team race against the clock to prevent another Sea Tiger attack, aided by the help of an old friend leading a U.S. Navy force. Guided by fate or just dumb luck, they unite with Golzari and the journalist. When the Sea Tigers surround Syren, Connor, Golzari, and the journalist must come up with a plan to escape. But the Tigers won’t be beaten so easily, and after cornering Stark and capturing him, he’ll learn firsthand if the relationships he’s cultivated will prove strong enough to beat the odds. With new allies and new enemies, Stark and company face terrorism, war, conspiracy, and murder. Claude Berube has set Stark up for another exciting adventure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The war between Sri Lanka and the insurrectionist Tamil Tigers propels Berube's enjoyable, if sometimes perfunctory, second Connor Stark novel (after 2012's The Aden Effect). After the Sea Tigers, the rebels' naval arm, sink most of the Sri Lankan navy, the Sri Lankan government hires Stark, the CEO of Highland Maritime Defense, one of the world's premier security firms, to gather intelligence on the Tigers. Stark commands a new ship, Syren, an experimental vessel rejected by the U.S. Navy, whose unique capabilities make her perfect for the assignment. The Tigers' commander, Vanni, is in possession of a secret weapon developed by his chief scientist, and if Stark can't figure out how to counter the weapon, the Sri Lankans and his own ship are doomed. The author checks all the right naval battle boxes, but Vanni's too-easy demise and the limited theater of operations make this not essential reading for fans of military thrillers.