Book 4

The Last Man in Tehran

by Mark Henshaw

Published 26 December 2017
Decorated current CIA analyst Mark Henshaw continues the “authentic, compelling, and revealing” (Jason Matthews) Red Cell series following agent Kyra Stryker who must work to save the CIA from being torn apart by a mole at the highest echelons, with the help of recently retired analyst, Jonathan Burke.

When a dirty bomb goes off in an Israeli port, Israel’s feared intelligence service—the Mossad—unleashes their most deadly assassins across the globe. They suspect that Iran supplied the radioactive material used in the attack, and Israel will protect the homeland by any means necessary.

Meanwhile at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Kyra Stryker is just settling in to her new position: chief of the Red Cell, the CIA’s special ops think tank. Soon after the attack on Israel, the CIA discovers evidence that a mole in Langley is helping Mossad wage its covert war. The FBI launches a counterintelligence investigation led by an ambitious special agent, who quickly identifies a suspect.

Not convinced that the FBI has the right man, Stryker asks for help from her former mentors—now-retired Red Cell Chief Jonathan Burke and his wife, former CIA Director Kathryn Cooke—to protect the convenient scapegoat, find the truth, and convince Mossad to stop its assassination campaign before a world war overtakes the Middle East. Kyra’s campaign takes her to Iran, where she uncovers kidnapping, torture, back-channel diplomacy, and an illegal op, but also finds help from the most unlikely source she could imagine.

“[A] taut plot” (Publishers Weekly), The Last Man in Tehran is a deeply satisfying, fascinating and thrilling novel by a real-life CIA analyst.

Red Cell

by Mark Henshaw

Published 1 May 2012
From the Tom Clancy for a new generation, a debut thriller following two CIA outcasts who must race to stop a secret Chinese weapon that threatens to provoke a world war

After her first assignment in Venezuela goes disastrously awry, rookie case officer Kyra Stryker is brought back to Langley to work in the Red Cell, the CIA's out-of-the-box think tank. There she's paired with Jonathan Burke, a straitlaced analyst who has alienated his colleagues with his unorthodox methods and a knack for always being right, political consequences be damned.

When a raid on Chinese spies in Taiwan ends in a shoot-out and the release of a deadly chemical, CIA director Kathy Cooke turns to the Red Cell to figure out why China is ready to invade the island nation without any fear of reprisal from the US Navy. Stryker and Burke's only lead is the top CIA asset in China, code named Pioneer. But when Pioneer reports that Chinese security has him under surveillance, Stryker is offered a chance for redemption with a highly dangerous mission: extract Pioneer from China before he's arrested and executed. The answers he holds could mean the difference between peace in the Pacific or another world war.

From CIA headquarters to the White House to a Navy carrier in the South China Sea and the dark alleyways of Beijing, Red Cell takes readers on a whirlwind race against time as Stryker and Burke work to save Pioneer and discover the hidden threat to America's power: China's top-secret weapon.

CIA analyst Mark Henshaw infuses expert knowledge of the intelligence world into a pulse-pounding plot to create a fascinating, authentic, and unforgettable read.

Cold Shot

by Mark Henshaw

Published 20 May 2014
With "searing action" (Publishers Weekly) and "lead characters [who] are fleshed out and interesting, especially the decidedly Sherlock-ian Burke" (Kirkus Reviews), Mark Henshaw delivers the ingenious follow-up to his debut novel, Red Cell, featuring two CIA analysts on the hunt for a dangerous nuclear scientist.

The USS Vicksburg is returning home when the crew comes upon a lifeboat bearing a dead Somali pirate who shows signs of torture. Questions immediately arise: Who is this man, and which ship did he come from? Who tortured him? Soon Red Cell analysts Kyra Stryker and Jonathan Burke have traced the dead man back to an Iranian ship currently bound for Venezuela-and the ship appears to have dangerous, radioactive cargo on board.

The Iranians' plan quickly becomes clear-they're building a nuclear bomb in politically unstable Venezuela, away from the UN's prying eyes. Stryker and Burke must tread carefully, though, because diplomacy in Venezuela is tricky at best. A civil war is at stake if word gets out. Can they stop the Iranians before it's too late?

From current CIA analyst and Red Cell think tank veteran Mark Henshaw, Cold Shot is "tense, suspenseful, and loaded with immersive detail" (Kirkus Reviews)-a thrilling journey into the intelligence world that only a true insider could create.