Under The Radar: A Taking Risks Novel (Volume 1)

Helicopter pilot Joni Bell believes her life is once again under control after a failed covert rescue mission two years ago cost the life of a dignitary’s child. Out of the US military and relocated to South Africa, she test-flies a prototype Special Forces craft unaware her past has already caught up. Her skill set is just what the CIA and South African government need to address a sensitive international issue brewing in the struggling country across the border. They coerce her into flying the craft into Zimbabwe to smuggle out top-secret information secured by wildlife manager Ian Taljaard. Once in the country, Joni discovers she and Taljaard have different visions for the rapidly changing mission. Her presence in the country is betrayed, another child is put at risk, and a deadly Zimbabwean operative and his team pick up their tail. As they evade capture in bush country, their encounters with the enemy reveal Ian is more mysterious and dangerous than his bio disclosed. With deceptions rampant on both sides and stakes rising, it will take both their skills to slip under the radar of a deadly enemy and escape.

Sandy's thrillers are award winning. Repossessed received a 2013 Kiss of Death Daphne du Maurier Mainstream Mystery/Suspense Award, a 2013 Maggie Award for Novel with Strong Romantic Element, and a HOLT Award of Merit. Off the Chart won a 2017 Maggie Award for Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance. Flying and science are evident themes in Sandy's manuscripts. She is a hydrogeologist by training with an MS in geological sciences and has taken additional graduate engineering course work. She has taught at a university, worked on a military project for the Air Force Flight Test Center, worked as a design engineer for a civil engineering firm, and done computer modeling and field studies as a hydrogeologic consultant. Keeping up with her two sons, she also learned how to fly and dive and survived sparring for fifteen years as a black belt in kenpo karate. She has studied in England and Italy, traveled to South Africa, Egypt, Asia, and South America, and still travels to places of interest all over the world so she can make her stories richer.