Mark Sava is thrown into the fight of his life when an unresolved Cold War mystery involving his first love collides with a present-day Russia on the march.
Life has never been better for Mark Sava, the former CIA station chief of Azerbaijan. He's recently married, has a newborn daughter, and the launch of his spies-for-hire business in Central Asia has been a great success. Then he gets a call from the US Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia--one his employees, seventy-two-year-old Larry Bowlan, has died of a heart attack.
Bowlan was also Sava's first boss at the CIA, so Sava feels a responsibility to personally recover the remains of his friend. He hops on a flight to Tbilisi, visits the hotel room in which Bowlan died, and is shocked when he discovers an oil painting that depicts a woman he knows all too well...
So begins four of the most violent and blisteringly personal days of Sava's life as he struggles to protect his future, and the future of a country he loves, by fighting demons from his past.
Review
Praise for Dan Mayland:
"Mayland's insight into Central Asian espionage and his ability to craft a breathless thriller are exceeded only by his understanding of the human heart."
--Orest Stelmach, author of The Boy from Reactor 4
"Mayland beautifully captures the high stakes games played in an increasingly complex world."
--Kyle Mills, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists
"Dan Mayland has an excellent understanding of modern Iran."
--Gene Garthwaite, author of The Persians
Praise for The Colonel's Mistake :
"Dan Mayland tells a riveting spy story from the Caspian oil city of Baku. He vividly captures the mysterious, dangerous place that swarms with agents like Cold War Berlin in the 1960s."
--Lutz Kleveman, author of The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia
"An outstanding debut...The Colonel's Mistake has a fresh setting well off the beaten path of the run of the mill intelligence novel, and you'll definitely be rewarded for making the trip..."
--William Christie, author of The Warriors of God
"Author Mayland handles this debut novel (and first of a series) with the aplomb of a veteran. He makes oil-rich, little-known Azerbaijan a fascinating locale for the "latest incarnation of the Great Game." Sava's transformation from complacent professor to hard-edged, combative spook is skillfully handled, and the explication of Azerbaijan's importance in the geopolitics of oil recalls the knowing thrillers of David Ignatius. There's also plenty of action, and a violent denouement. Espionage-thriller fans won't want to miss this one."
--Booklist
About the Author
Dan Mayland is the author of the best-selling Mark Sava spy novel series. He graduated from Dartmouth College with degree in history, has written articles for the Iranian.com, and is an international affairs forecaster for IARPA's (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity) Good Judgment Project. He lives in Pennsylvania with his family and travels frequently to the remote corners of the world he writes about.