The Golden Hour (A Judd Ryker Novel) - Hardcover

Moss, Todd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399168605 ISBN 13: 9780399168604

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014

Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“A novel that makes your heart race . . . a thriller that weaves diplomacy and national security together with espionage, terrorism and Washington infighting.”—Washington Post

An extraordinary thriller debut of twenty-first-century espionage, by a former deputy assistant secretary of state who “knows where all the bodies are buried—literally” (W. E. B. Griffin).
 
The Golden Hour: In international politics, the hundred hours following a coup, when there is still a chance that diplomacy, a secret back channel, military action—something—might reverse the chain of events.

As the top American diplomat for West Africa, Todd Moss saw a great deal about how diplomacy and politics actually work. But as he shows us, the results aren’t always pretty.

When Judd Ryker is appointed director of the new State Department Crisis Reaction Unit, he figures he has a mandate to help the United States respond more quickly to foreign crises, but he hasn’t reckoned with the intense State, Defense, Pentagon, White House, and CIA infighting and turf battles he would face. Then comes the coup in Mali. It is his chance to prove that his theory of the Golden Hour actually works—but in the real world, those hours move very, very quickly indeed, and include things he’d never even imagined.

As Ryker races from Washington across Europe to the Sahara Desert, he finds that personalities, loyalties, everything he thought he knew, begin to shift and change beneath his feet—and that friends and enemies come in many forms.

About this title

About the Author:

Todd Moss is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Fellow at the Washington think tank the Center for Global Development, and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. From 2007 to 2008, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs, where he was responsible for diplomatic relations with sixteen West African countries.  Moss lives in Maryland.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

KITTY  HAWK,  OUTER  BANKS,  NORTH  CAROLINA 

 

 

MONDAY,  5:42  A.M.  EST  (EASTERN  ST ANDARD  TIME) 

 

It started, unsurprisingly, with the low buzz of a BlackBerry. Judd slowly opened one eye. The phone was lying facedown  on the nightstand just six inches from  his nose.  Its little blinking  green light,  barely  perceptible   during  the  day,  illuminated the  pitch- dark  room  in half-second  intervals.  So much for vacation.

He grabbed  the vibrating  phone  and  studied  the caller ID. It was flashing “202” but nothing  more. A scrambled  number  from Washington, D.C. He swung his legs off the bed and sat up. Steal- ing a quick glance to make sure Jessica was still sound  asleep, he pushed  the answer  button with his thumb  and whispered  into the phone,  “This  is Ryker.”

“This  is White House  Operations. What  is your confirmation code?” asked the robotic, clearly military  voice on the line.

He paused.  “Turquoise Mobutu Seven.”

“Good morning, Dr.  Ryker.  Embassy  Bamako  is reporting a probable coup overnight  in Mali.  As of oh five hundred,

“Okay,” is all Judd could squeeze out, still shaking out the cobwebs.

“State is setting up a task force to run our policy response,  and we should  have a new Ops report  in about  an hour.”

Finally waking  up, he asked,  “Is it Diallo or Idrissa?” “Excuse  me, sir?”

“Who is behind  the coup? Is it General  Oumar Diallo or Gen- eral Mamadou Idrissa?”

“We don’t know yet, sir. The ambassador and the station  chief should  have more information soon.”

“Okay, thanks  for letting  me know.  Please tell Larissa  James she can  reach  me on  my phone  if she wants  my input  as news rolls in.”

“Ambassador James is the one who  asked  us to bring  you in. A car will be at your location  at oh six hundred. They are twelve minutes  out.”

He exhaled  a deep breath, and sat up straight.

“If that’s your office, it better be goddamn important.” Jessica was awake.  “Don’t they know  it’s your  first day of vacation  in a whole year?”

Judd tried to tap her reassuringly, but unable to see in the dark, he just patted  the blankets  while speaking  back  into  the phone. “Okay, thanks. I’ll look out for the car.” And he hung up.

“Car?”

“A coup in Mali. I can’t say any more. I, um, I don’t know any more. I’m sorry.” He gets up and starts to get dressed. “It shouldn’t be more  than  a day or two.  The kids won’t  even notice  that  I’m gone.”

“I will,” snapped  Jessica.

Judd clipped his BlackBerry onto  his belt and picked up his go bag, which was already sitting by the door.  He planted  a long kiss on Jessica’s lips and then turned  to leave.

“Don’t  let Rogerson push  you  around,” she said.  “Don’t  let him fuck you again,” she added,  stopping  Judd  in his tracks.  He turned, gave  her  a  slight,  unconvincing nod,  and  then  silently walked  away.

As he stepped out of the rented beach house onto the sand drive- way,  he cursed  himself for not  setting  up the coffeemaker  to be ready for just such a possibility. Just as he considered  going back in to make a quick double  espresso, he saw four beaming  headlights approaching in the dark,  barreling  up the driveway.  An all-black Chevy Suburban rolled up and abruptly stopped beside him. A tall, thick man with short hair and a wire looped behind his ear silently exited  the  front  of the  vehicle,  quickly  surveyed  the  area,  then opened the back door while removing the go bag from Judd’s grip.

Judd  squinted  at the bright  lights from inside the cab. “Good morning, sir,” said a young man inside whom he didn’t recognize. “Morning. We need  to  stop  and  get coffee.” He  ducked  his

head and climbed in.

The security officer closed the door, stealing one more glance around, then  slid into  the  car,  which  was  already  accelerating. Judd turned  around in his seat and waved good-bye  to Jessica.

From the bedroom window, she watched  the behemoth and its lifeless blacked-out windows  speed away.

About this edition

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0399168605
• ISBN 13: 9780399168604
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336