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Don Bentley

Biography

Don Bentley

Don Bentley is the New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including the Matt Drake thriller series (FORGOTTEN WAR, HOSTILE INTENT, THE OUTSIDE MAN, WITHOUT SANCTION), the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. series (WEAPONS GRADE, FLASH POINT, ZERO HOUR, TARGET ACQUIRED), and the Vince Flynn Mitch Rapp series.

Don spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot during which time he was stationed in South Korea, Germany and Texas. While deployed to Afghanistan as a Troop Commander in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VI, Don was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal with "V" device for valor. Following his time in the military Don worked as an FBI Special Agent and was a member of the Dallas Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.

After leaving the FBI, Don worked for companies that developed technology for the U.S. Special Operations Community. He holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Ohio State University, and an M.F.A in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

Don Bentley

Books by Don Bentley

by Don Bentley - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

April 2011: On a remote mountaintop overlooking the remains of the Iranian nuclear weapons program, Azad Ashani witnesses a Quds Force demonstration of a capability meant to upend America’s war in the Middle East. Ashani, director of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, recognizes the demonstration’s true significance and the nation-ending conflict it will provoke. Alone, Ashani stands no chance of preventing this rush to madness. But with the help of one man, he just might. In Washington, DC, CIA director Irene Kennedy briefs the president that the operational window to kill or capture Osama bin Laden at his recently discovered compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, is rapidly closing. But before he’ll authorize a commando raid on Pakistani soil, the president demands irrefutable proof of bin Laden’s presence. Proof he trusts just one man to provide.

by Don Bentley - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The quiet of a Texas night is shattered by the sounds of screeching brakes, crumpling metal and, most shockingly, rapid gunfire. The auto accident Jack Ryan Jr. thought he witnessed turned out to be a professional hit. Jack may be too late to save the victim, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to let the hitters escape justice. He has just one lead --- a meeting the victim was going to. When Jack shows up instead, he’s drawn into the seedy underbelly of a small Texas town and the cold case of a college student who vanished from its streets. Jack is left with nothing but questions. Who wants it to look like the victim was drunk? Why does someone want an innocent witness killed? And most of all, what’s a team of South African hitmen doing in the Lone Star State?

by Don Bentley - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

As a team, Matt Drake and his partner, Frodo, have watched each other's backs through some very dark days. One thing they've never doubted was their commitment to each other. Until now. Frodo has been accused of a war crime 10 years after leaving Afghanistan. Matt is determined to prove his friend innocent. But what will he do when he finds that his closest friend has secrets he won't share?

by Don Bentley - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When a benign surveillance operation takes a deadly turn, Jack Ryan Jr. finds himself locked in a struggle with an unseen enemy bent on destroying the Campus. The chase leads Jack to the South China Sea where a midair collision between aircraft from rival nations threatens to serve as a flash point for the entire region. As Jack frantically tries to put the pieces of the conspiracy together, the Campus is hit with a crippling attack. When the dust settles, Jack is one of the few operators still standing and the Campus’s de facto leader. But the fight is just beginning. As tensions escalate, Jack’s mysterious adversary executes a brilliant campaign to paralyze the American government even as China inches closer to invading Taiwan.

by Don Bentley - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

When a mysterious walk-in to the US embassy in Vienna claims to have critical information about a Russian intelligence operation, he raises eyebrows. But when he asks for Matt Drake by name and calls himself the Irishman, he gets the DIA’s premier case officer on a one-way flight. Matt arrives to find Austria’s charming capital lousy with intelligence officers, all swirling around Nolan Burke --- a one-time member of the real IRA. But before Matt can debrief Nolan, the Irishman is kidnapped by a Russian direct action team. Now, Matt must find a way to repay the debt of honor he owes Nolan while stopping World War III in the process.

by Don Bentley - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When the leader of North Korea is catastrophically injured, his incapacitation inadvertently triggers a “dead-man’s switch,” activating an army of sleeper agents in South Korea and precipitating a struggle for succession. Jack Ryan, Jr. is in Seoul to interview a potential addition to the Campus. But his benign trip takes a deadly turn when a wave of violence perpetrated by North Korean operatives grips South Korea’s capital. A mysterious voice from North Korea offers Jack a way to stop the peninsula’s rush to war, but her price may be more than he can afford to pay.

by Don Bentley - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Jack Ryan, Jr. would do anything for Ding Chavez. That's why he is currently sitting in an open-air market in Israel, helping a CIA team with a simple job. The man running the mission, Peter Beltz, is an old friend from Ding's Army days. Ding hadn't seen his friend since Peter's transfer to the CIA 18 months prior, and intended to use the assignment to reconnect. Unfortunately, Ding had to cancel at the last minute and asked Jack to take his place. It's a cushy assignment --- a trip to Israel in exchange for a couple hours of easy work --- but Jack could use the downtime after his last operation. Jack is here merely as an observer, but when he hastens to help a woman and her young son, he finds himself the target of trained killers.

by Don Bentley - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Broad daylight on an Austin, Texas, street, and DIA operative Matt Drake is fighting for his life against a highly trained team of assassins. Who are they? Why do they want him dead? How will he protect those closest to him? The answers will take him into some of the most dangerous spots in the Middle East and will put him in the clutches of an old foe known simply as the Devil. It's a world of double crosses, with no boundaries between the guilty and the innocent. It will take all of Drake's wiles to get out alive.

by Don Bentley - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Defense Intelligence Agency operative Matt Drake broke a promise. A promise that cost three people their lives and crippled his best friend. Three months later, he's paralyzed by survivor's guilt and haunted by the memories of the fallen. Matt may have left Syria, but Syria hasn't left him. In the midst of his self-imposed exile, Matt is dragged back into the world of espionage and assets that he tried to forget. A Pakistani scientist working for an ISIS splinter cell has created a terrifying weapon of mass destruction. The scientist offers to defect with the weapon, but he trusts just one man to bring him out of Syria alive: Matt Drake. It’s a suicide mission --- one man against an army of terrorists. Still, with stakes this high, Matt has no choice but to try.