Dagger Quest
An obsolete patrol boat is all that stands between the world and nuclear annihilation!
The world is on the brink of war, with NATO mobilizing to counter a Russian threat to Poland and Lithuania and leaders openly discussing war options. In the midst of the crisis, a Russian bomber collides with a U.S. fighter off Florida causing the accidental launch of a nuclear-tipped hypersonic missile.
A Coast Guard cutter finds a drug-laden sailboat smashed and adrift north of the Florida Keys. The boat’s damage is from a near miss by the Russian missile which has not harmlessly flown deep into the Gulf of Mexico as originally thought, but crashed somewhere in the Keys.
The Coast Guard crew is in a race against a vicious and powerful international crime syndicate to find and recover the Russian nuke before its discovery can trigger a nuclear war. Exploring the friendship and teamwork of a typical ship’s crew, in the face of unexpected and hazardous challenges, Dagger Quest provides a fast-paced, taut story – excellent fare for both suspense and action/adventure fans.
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Editorial Reviews
Self-Publishing Review:
Submerging readers in the octane-fueled action of America’s coastal military, Dagger Quest by Edward M. Hochsmann is a highly entertaining cross between a seafaring adventure and a high-stakes military drama.
When a suspected drug-running ship is found destroyed in Cuban waters, Ben Wyporek, the Executive Officer of a Coast Guard cutter, is plunged into an international quagmire of missiles, secrets, and organized crime. Though the nuclear premise is exciting enough, the more interesting tension of the novel comes from the richly penned cast, with their interpersonal struggles, romances, bruised egos, and conflicting philosophies of leadership. The relationship between Sam and Ben, CO and XO, is both paternal and fraternal, underpinning the strong themes of sacrifice, duty, and friendship that drive this novel forward.
At a time of wildly unstable geopolitics, this novel will hit home for contemporary readers… the authenticity of the prose and the detailed technical writing makes readers forget this isn’t a direct account of an international incident. Hochsmann also captures the pace, attitude, hierarchy, and seriousness of life on board a cutter, evidence of his own law enforcement experience in the Coast Guard.
Encarta Publishing:
Dagger Quest has elements from Top Gun and the humor from The Guardian. The characters in the book are very believable and intriguing. Hochsmann includes great in-depth descriptions of physical characteristics and personal backgrounds. Readers will enjoy the friendships of the crew, especially between the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer.
Select Book Reviews
Excerpt from Engage at Dawn: First Contact
Resolution Key, Florida
07:25 EST, 19 January
Ben
“I can see them,” Ben said when he could make out the black shape of the large SUV coming through the mist. His “barricade,” if it could be called that, was barely two-and-a-half feet high. “They don’t seem too worried about us.”
“Not much to fear from small arms. You don’t happen to have an anti-tank rocket on you, by any chance? No? No.” Simmons’s face was expressionless as he stared at the approaching SUVs.
Their new companion, who still held to his assumed name of Bill, crouched to Simmons’s left, staring at the approaching SUVs with Simmons’s Glock in his hand. The two men had agreed on a temporary alliance against the impending threat, with the understanding that Simmons and Ben would look the other way afterward when the man fled, assuming they were still alive. Ben was not at all happy about this, trying not to think about how easy it would be for Bill to shoot both of them in the back.
Ben couldn’t remember ever being so scared and swallowed hard as he watched the vehicles’ slow approach. “Shouldn’t we spread out? I mean, one shot with an RPG can take out all of us.”
Simmons shook his head. “No, we need to keep close to the shack. They won’t risk an explosive shot this close to the target, at least, until they figure out what it is. We move off, and they’ll blow us away for sure.”
“OK. Just a reminder. It’s my first firefight.”
Simmons shot Ben a glance and smiled. “Yeah, I remember. Don’t worry, Ben, you’ll be fine. Keep your head down, and other than that, it’s just like the gun range.”
Ben selected the voice-activated position on his radio. “Kauai, Shore-One, hostiles in sight and approaching, over.”
“Roger One, we’re almost there, and we have eyes on scene. Where are you? Over,” Sam’s voice replied.
The sound of Sam’s voice and the knowledge a Puma was providing him situational awareness provided some relief from the gnawing fear. “We are all barricaded by the shed, sir, within fifteen feet. Everything moving is hostile, over.”
“Roger that. Hang in there! Out.”
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here,” Simmons quipped.
“Shakespeare, The Tempest,” Ben responded.
“Well played, sir. We’ll set you up with a pretty Lit major yet.” Simmons smiled grimly with his eyes fixed on the approaching vehicles.
The line brought the thought of the lovely young analyst he had met a mere day and a half ago to mind. “If I don’t make it back, would you tell Victoria… Well, you know what to tell her.”
“You will make it back,” Simmons snapped. “Just keep your head in the game!”
“Perhaps you should have considered a more experienced wingman,” Bill said snidely.
“He’ll do. Why don’t you give us a break and shut up!” Simmons replied.
The two SUVs split apart and continued their slow approach. Simmons noticed the rear window of the left one coming down and put two Uzi bursts toward it. The window quickly raised. “Stand by for dismounts. They’ll be using the vehicles for cover. You take the one on the right. Shoot at anything you see outside the vehicle, but don’t take a lot of time aiming. We need a steady fire on them, or they’ll rush us. Remember, stay low!”
Ben’s vehicle slowed, and a head appeared around the back. Ben raised his carbine, firing a three-round burst, and the head disappeared. The SUV stopped, and two more heads popped up over the hood and fired automatic weapons. Rounds slammed into the wood barrier and ground, throwing up sand and wood splinters. Ben returned quick bursts in the general direction, noting Simmons and Bill were doing the same toward their vehicle. “Kauai, Shore-One, we are taking fire; repeat, we are taking fire. Request immediate assistance!” Ben discarded the radio and laid down a quick set of bursts, and one black-clad figure tumbled from behind his vehicle. Steady fire, stay low, steady fire, stay low. Ben drilled his mind to the task at hand.
USCG Cutter Kauai, one nautical mile west of Resolution Key, Florida
07:27 EST, 19 January
Sam
“Conn, Mount 51, sound of gunshots zero-four-zero relative, no visual target!” Hebert shouted through the bridge door from his position on the starboard machine gun.
“Conn, aye!” Hopkins replied.
Sam watched the scene ashore unfold in real-time in the video feed from the orbiting Puma. His heart pounded, and he felt rising nausea as he watched the SUVs split apart and then stop. Figures emerged from both vehicles.
“Kauai, Shore-One, we are taking fire; repeat, we are taking fire. Request immediate assistance!” Ben’s voice burst from the radio.
“Conn, Mount 51, sound of continuous gunfire zero-five-zero relative, no visual target!” came the redundant report.
“Conn, aye! Captain, one point seven miles to shoal water.”
Hopkins had called down to Drake at the two-mile point, and Sam saw the engine speed back down slightly to “normal” emergency ahead in response.
“Very well, prepare for crash back. Williams?”
“Nothing yet, Captain, sorry,” Williams said, shifting in his seat.
Hopkins announced, “Captain, one and a half miles to shoal water.” Into the telephone, she said, “Chief, stand by for crash back.”
“Very well, stand by,” Sam responded.
On the Puma’s video display, Sam saw Bill take the fatal hit and fall back dead. His heart was in his throat until he leaned forward to peer at the screen, then a wave of relief when he saw the long hair and beach clothing, apparent even in the low-resolution image. It must be the prisoner. He noted a pause in the action and saw the figures behind the westernmost vehicle aim a mortar-like device and fire it. The camera picked up a flash of a small object, then a burst overhead Ben and Simmons’s redoubt. Either Ben or Simmons—from the camera aspect and mist, he couldn’t tell which—fast-crawled to the other briefly, then returned to his position. Sam was unconsciously pounding his right fist on his thigh as the scene played out before him.
“Getting something,” Williams said. “Yes! Two targets on long-wave IR.”
Sam leaned in. “Surface action starboard, train on the target on the far left and standby. Deffler, illuminate the hostile vehicle farthest west.” Standing up, he shouted, “OOD, Crash Back Now!” He keyed his handheld radio. “Pickins, haul ass back to the boat deck now!”
Hopkins shouted into the telephone, “Main Control, Conn, Crash Back, all back full!”
“Unmasked,” Deffler piped up. “Target illuminated.”
Sam held on to the safety rail as the patrol boat pitched down and violently shuddered while shedding speed quickly in the emergency stop. He watched the firing resume on the screen, and the figures started moving from behind the vehicles and closing on Ben and Simmons’s position.
“Main Control, Conn, All Stop!” Hopkins shouted into the phone when the speed dropped to zero. The roar of the engines immediately died away.
“Conn, Mount 51, more continuous gunfire bearing zero-six-zero relative, no visual target!”
“Conn, aye!”
“Target identified, target confirmed, on target and tracking!”
“Batteries release. Commence fire!”
