The Counterfeit

In the near future, China wins the Pacific War that leaves the United States vanquished and bankrupted. Beijing is plotting to make a puppet of the next US President, in command of a corrupt and hypocritical government that has created two Americas: one of ease, affluence, and influence; and one where people struggle to survive. Now paroled military officers and ordinary Americans are beginning to fight back. Their plan is to put a spy into the highest reaches of government. Philip Nolan agrees to infiltrate the Internal Security Division--America's Gestapo--and replace his look-alike brother as the head of a vast secret police network built to intimidate, arrest, and imprison the government's critics. Nolan risks capture, torture, and death as he works undercover to aid the rising Resistance. This is a gripping dystopian thriller that explores the themes of loyalty, identity, and the struggle for freedom in a world where truth is a rare commodity and courage is the ultimate weapon.

Ralph DeFalco left an unfulfilling career in corporate marketing to tackle challenging assignments in national security intelligence. He unraveled the shipping ploys of narco-traffickers, sailed with Marines embarked for the invasion of Haiti, tracked Russian naval operations in the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, supported US special forces and covert operations, and uncovered notorious Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan. His career spanned five decades and five continents. As a naval officer, he served with U.S. Intelligence agencies, NATO, and multinational forces, and in the Pentagon, England, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. He later completed tours of duty with the National Intelligence University, United States European Command, Africa Command, and Central Command during combat operations in Afghanistan and retired in the rank of captain. He served his final tour of duty at the Pentagon, as Deputy Director of Intelligence, Joint Operations and Intelligence Center. As a civilian, he was the Intelligence Oversight Officer on the staff of the Director of Naval Intelligence. A graduate of Georgetown University, Dr. DeFalco earned his doctorate in public policy involving the international law of armed conflict and the moral use of armed force. He is widely published in national security intelligence, foreign affairs, geopolitics, intelligence operations, history, and applied ethics. The Counterfeit is his first novel.