Across the Line of Departure: A Novel

In military terminology, the line of departure is the spot at which a soldier crosses from friendly-held territory into unsecured ground, leaving safety behind to pursue his duty. For Major Bill Slade, a second-rate army officer and inveterate drinker, he must journey across the line of departure to hunt for his enemies while fighting his own demons. In 1991, Slade is stationed in Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Storm. He journeys into the modern battlefield, led by a weak and incompetent officer—a personal tormentor whose clashes with Slade will end when one of them is dead. Only Slade knows of the true dangers awaiting him and the soldiers he leads—that one of the best leaders and fighters in the U.S. Army is now fighting for Saddam and against Slade and his comrades-in-arms. As the army begins the ground invasion, Slade journeys into his past where he faces the memories of an evil so raw that it drives him into near madness, and destroys the one person Slade loves. Slade relives a confrontation with a malevolent figure straight from a hideous tale of ancient horror, a scarring event that haunts Slade as he goes to war. He journeys into the heart of a conspiracy whose magnitude staggers Slade’s imagination. Slade becomes the prey as assassins come at him from the most unlikely directions. He finds treachery and deceit all around him. He journeys into his enemies’ hands and faces a terrorist whose beauty is her most deadly weapon. Like Backazimuth, the sequel, Across the Line of Departure is an engrossing military mystery in the spirit of Tom Clancy and Harold Coyle, a realistically told thriller that draws readers deep into the mind of a complex protagonist whose unconventional code of honor sets him on a dangerous path to vengeance, from which there can be no turning back.