Power Grab by Brian H. Williams

About the book

Three gruesome murders, one of a protected Federal witness, surreptitiously relocated in a thinly populated section of southeastern New Mexico, sent shock waves into the highest levels of the US Government.

FBI, CIA, and military representatives engaged in a fairly heated discussion during a routine meeting of the National Security Council. Certain events, which occurred outside of public knowledge or scrutiny, had taken place. Combined, in the eyes of intelligence insiders, however, they comprised a developing situation that could evolve well beyond the bounds of a simple national security issue. Weapons grade uranium was still missing, unexplained radioactivity had been detected off the Brazilian coast, and the killings in New Mexico all spelled potential international trouble for the United States of America.

A "Defense Department Intelligence Command" (DDIC) team, comprised of USAF Capt. Brad Graham and USMC Sgt. Greg Palmer, had been assigned to handle the case. A thorough, hands-on investigation indicated a recognizable, criminal signature. Well known among international intelligence circles, an assassination team, involving the "Surgeon," had clearly performed the deadly work.

The case took Graham and Palmer from New Mexico to the USS Eisenhower Carrier Task Force and ultimately to the vicinity of Iguape, a town situated along the southern Brazilian coast. There, they unexpectedly crossed paths with International Security Agency (ISA) operatives pursuing similar goals. A resultant DDIC/ISA joint effort led to the dangerous stake-out of a secret, well-guarded nuclear reactor compound, illegal by all international standards, unknown even to the Brazilian Government.

Covertly planned and launched from warships of the USS Enterprise Carrier Task Force, US and allied military units were poised to conduct a massive, highly coordinated stealth operation to destroy the rogue reactor site.

About the author

Williams, Brian H. - Born on August 18, 1942, in New Brunswick, NJ, to parents John H. and Althea M. Williams, he grew up in nearby Edison.

After graduating from Highland Park High School (in H.P., NJ), and attending Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, WV, for several years, he proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War (1965-1967) and, when honorably discharged, he held the rank of Sp-5.

He was married to Lee Becker and they have three sons: Brian Jonathan, Paul Becker, and Christopher Michael.

Transferring to the Ohio State University in Columbus, he graduated with a BS degree in Chemistry (1969). Then, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as NDEA Title IV Fellow and Teaching Assistant, he earned a PhD degree in Organic Chemistry (1974).

After a 27-year career with the 3M Company in St. Paul, MN, in both Central Research and Specialty Film Divisions, he retired in 2001 as a Research Specialist.

Brian has had some public speaking experience (i.e. presented graduate research at the 1973 Pacific Conference on Chemistry and Spectroscopy in San Diego, CA, and gave many research review talks throughout his 3M employment).

Writing has always been a passion for him - (even reflected in his final years at 3M, having responsibility to produce the project team's coating run reports). He received Honorable Mention in the "Summer 2001 Iliad Literary Awards Program" and the "President's Award for Literary Excellence 2002" (for poetry).

He has recently started researching and writing the sixth in a continuing series of U. S. military intelligence, action/adventure genre novels, Power Grab being the first in the chronologically unfolding series.