Nineteen Angels

19 Angels is a fast-paced political thriller full of suspense and rich detail by award-winning screenwriter, journalist and political insider Hoyt Hilsman.

The author of numerous feature films and TV shows, Hilsman is the son of a top Intelligence official under President Kennedy and has been active in politics and public policy, including running for Congress in California. A regular contributor to media outlets like the New York Times and the Huffington Post, Hilsman brings an inside knowledge of both politics and intelligence that makes 19 Angels a gripping, ripped-from-the-headlines listen.

Standing on a windy bluff on the northern border of Israel, televangelist Matthew Vaughn is broadcasting to an audience of millions when he is kidnapped by guerillas from a mysterious terrorist cell. Veteran CIA operative Grant Stearns is thrown into the hunt for the captive preacher, a chase that leads from the deserts of Syria to a remote coastal resort in Albania. But Stearns' biggest challenge is not only to rescue Vaughn, but to battle the forces in Washington and Tel Aviv - a renegade Homeland Security Secretary in league with an ambitious Israeli Defense Minister - who want to exploit the kidnapping for their own political purposes, even if it means provoking a full-scale regional war. Grant Stearns is a different kind of CIA agent - a man for changing times. Stearns understands that it's a tough world out there, but that solid intelligence work can outmatch brute force anytime.

With the keen instinct of an experienced hunter, Stearns tracks down terrorists with both guts and smarts. He'll work with whoever it takes - whether it is enemies like the Mukhabarat, the ruthless Syrian Secret Service or improbable allies like RENEA, the Albanian counter-terrorist strike force - Stearns is less interested in appearances or protocol than results. And he's more than ready to take on America's allies or even higher-ups in the United States government if that's what it takes to get the job done. 19 Angels is the first in a series of novels that take Grant Stearns on assignments around the world, from China and Pakistan, to the Aleutians and Madagascar, as he battles not only those who threaten peace, but also those in his own government who put their own greed and ambition above the interests both of their nation and of mankind.