Airborne by John Steen

About the book

Airborne is about a bio-terrorism threat on the United States. It is also about spiritual warfare and politics, and how closely related they are. Airborne is written in first person, narrated by the main character, FBI Special Agent Paul Brodin.

An airborne strain of the deadly Ebola virus, created by a team of Iranian scientists, with the help of demonic forces, has found its way to Hamas, a faction of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For the first time, Hamas is planning a terrorist attack on the United States. Israel's famed intelligence agency, the Mossad, learns of the threat and alerts the United States. Israel then vows nuclear retaliation on Iran and possibly, other Arab countries for any biological attack on the United States, or itself.

FBI Special Agent Paul Brodin, personal friend of the President of the United States, is asked to conduct a clandestine operation aimed at identifying and killing the Palestinian terrorists behind the Ebola plot. Only the president, National Security Advisor and Secretary of Defense are aware of the Ebola threat and conspire to conceal it from the American public.

In his quest to stop the Ebola threat, Brodin solicits the help of a local Mafia assassin, Jack Hamm. During their investigation of the Ebola threat, Brodin and Hamm become close friends, despite of their conflicting occupations.

Various subplots develop during the course of the novel, including Lucifer's desire to convince Brodin to join him in ridding the world of terrorism. The interaction between Lucifer and Brodin forces the reader to address several disturbing questions. Brodin's faith is suddenly shaken when his family is brutally murdered. He turns his anger toward God and Gabriel.

Two of Lucifer's fellow demons initiate the biological attack on the United States despite Lucifer's orders not to do so. They become jealous of Lucifer's interest in Brodin and decide to kill Brodin and those dear to him. During the course of these attacks, Brodin questions God's ability to protect him and his family. He begins to wonder if it is Lucifer that cares about him, not God.

While Brodin thinks he is successful in preventing the Ebola virus from spreading, he is ultimately betrayed by the President of the United States and loses his life. The reader discovers in the final chapters that the airborne strain of the Ebola virus was never a threat to the United States. Israel was the real target and Brodin, Gabriel the Archangel and the President of the United States were duped from the start. The Epilogue, which takes place one year after Brodin's death, will catch the reader by surprise and segues into the sequel.

About the author

John Steen has spent the last twenty years as an entrepreneur and business writer. During 1998 through 2002, Mr. Steen made four trips to Bosnia Herzegovina to investigate reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a small village named Medjugorje. During that time, he became close friends with one of the visionaries and the founders of the Pilgrims' Peace Center. As a result of his research and experiences in Medjugorje, Mr. Steen wrote his first novel, Airborne -- which combines world events with biblical prophecies.

He is a former Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he worked on the fugitive and bank robbery squad in St. Louis and foreign counterintelligence in New York City.

Mr. Steen continues to research spiritual phenomena and international terrorism. Mr. Steen graduated from the University of Missouri in 1976. He currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and three children. He is currently working on his second novel, Almost Human.