EBOOK First Billion

Christopher Reich electrified readers with Numbered Account and The Runner, his first  two international thrillers. Now the New York Times bestselling author whose work  has been called &';gripping&' (Chicago Tribune), &';chilling&' (The Denver Post), &';wonderful&'  (The New York Times Book Review), ratchets up the stakes in an ingeniously plotted  story of nerve-jangling intrigue and hot-wired suspense. Using today&'s cutthroat  global economy as a backdrop, The First Billion explodes into a breakneck tale of  betrayal, revenge, and redemption... John &';Jett&' Gavallan is a former fighter pilot,  now the high-flying CEO of Black Jet Securities, an investment firm that earned its  first billion before the techno dream crashed and burned. Poised for an offering  crucial to his company&'s survival, Gavallan is banking on the riskiest gamble of  his dazzling career. In exactly six days, he will take Mercury Broadband, Russia&'s  leading media company, public on the New York Stock Exchange. But rumors of fraud  have suddenly surfaced that could send the deal south. Gavallan makes a preemptive  strike by dispatching his number-two man--fellow Desert Storm fighter pilot Grafton  Byrnes--to Moscow to penetrate the shadowy Russian multinational. When Byrnes fails  to return, Gavallan fears the worst. But the truth is even more diabolical than  he can imagine. Plunging into a desperate search for his best friend, the renegade  top gun is suddenly fighting a different kind of war, where there is no safe harbor  and no one he can trust. Not Konstantin Kirov, the elusive head of Mercury Broadband  who may not be what he seems. Not the bankers and traders Gavallan does business  with every day. Not the exotic beauty who has told him all her deepest secrets--except  one. Suddenly Jett finds himself trapped in a conspiracy that could shatter the delicate  balance between nations--and plunge the global economy into chaos. Hunted by the  F.B.I. and a band of elite killers, Jett races from Palm Beach to Zurich to Moscow  in a desperate search for answers. But for this brave ex-commando haunted by visions  of war, the truth comes at a terrible price. With Mercury rising and the hours ticking  down, he is moving closer to a place where murder and revenge are the currency of  choice...and where the first billion is the ultimate insider secret--and the deadliest  obsession of all. With breakneck plotting, stunning realism, and a sense of danger  that keeps the heart racing, The First Billion is a knockout of a novel that will  linger long after the final shocking twist is revealed.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Christopher Reich&'s The Prince of Risk.