James Hicks has just been selected to serve as the new Dean of The University. But he is not a scholar, and The University is not a center of learning (though searching for information is definitely part of its mission). It is comprised of “Faculty,” “Staff” and Trustees,” but these employees deal in the non-collegial activities of spying, surveillance, interrogation and sometimes the assassination of terrorists. The University is actually a secret intelligence-gathering spy agency that is largely unknown to its formal government counterparts like the NSA and the FBI. However, its existence recently became known to the CIA.

Hicks’ promotion to Dean means that he is the head of the clandestine organization rather than the field operative he had always been before. This doesn’t mean that he has retired from field work, as he remembers when OMNI detects a tail on him as he’s driving to a meeting in Washington, D.C. --- a BMW whose stolen license plates don’t match the car’s VIN number. OMNI is The University’s own advanced computer system, capable of retrieving data from almost any computer system or satellite in the world. It notifies the police that the BMW is likely a stolen vehicle containing dangerous suspects, and Hicks heads for the police deputy closest to intercepting them, knowing he’ll probably need assistance.

"Can Hicks and his fellow Faculty members track down their largely invisible enemies and neutralize The Vanguard’s dangerous threats against America and freedom? To discover the answer to that question, read Terrence McCauley’s thrilling, exciting A CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS. You’ll be in for an incredible ride!"

In the resulting shootout, the suspects are killed and the deputy (who did require Hicks’ help after all) is injured. Hicks administers rudimentary first aid to the deputy, calls on the police channel for assistance, then uploads photos and fingerprints of the suspects to OMNI. He leaves the scene as the flashing lights of police cars approach.

OMNI and Jason, Hicks’ second-in-command, verify that the suspects were not CIA but likely of Eastern European or Russian descent. Which is good since the meeting Hicks is heading to is with a longtime Trustee of The University and a CIA head regarding the possibility of a first-ever collaboration between the two organizations. Jason would prefer, given the shootout, that the Dean not attend the meeting, but Hicks believes it is crucial for a continuing mission.

So he meets and enters into a vague partnership with Charles Demarest, head of Clandestine Services at the CIA. Both The University and the CIA are determined to end the threat of a shadowy criminal organization they’ve only recently learned about called The Vanguard, comprised of former intelligence officers from Russia and China. The Vanguard sells weapons and drugs and launders money, which is bad enough, but then it uses the monies from these illegal activities not only to fund terrorists and attack countries, but also to bring down governments.

Clearly it’s in the CIA’s and The University’s best interests to eradicate The Vanguard. But they must work together to do so. Before they can, The University’s entire group of agents in Moscow, who had begun to ask questions about a newly discovered top man of The Vanguard, is wiped out. And Hicks’ virtually unknown and secure headquarters and home in New York City is destroyed by a drone-guided Hellfire missile. Apparently, The Vanguard doesn’t want anyone’s eyes on them.

Hicks assembles a five-person team of expert Faculty operatives in Berlin, aided by the CIA’s contacts in German intelligence. That team includes Mossad agent Tali Saddon, the woman Hicks loves, as well as his ruthless interrogator friend and co-worker Roger Cobb. They have a lead on The Vanguard, but none of them knows the high and dangerous price they’ll have to pay as they follow that lead.

So what is a “conspiracy of ravens,” anyway? Of course, it’s one of the ways a group of ravens can be described. However, I also found this interesting definition online at Yahoo Answers: “If they (the ravens) are lurking in the shadows, apparently up to no good or looking generally spooky they are called a CONSPIRACY.” This perfectly illustrates the nefarious Vanguard and their agents and plans. Can Hicks and his fellow Faculty members track down their largely invisible enemies and neutralize The Vanguard’s dangerous threats against America and freedom? To discover the answer to that question, read Terrence McCauley’s thrilling, exciting A CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS. You’ll be in for an incredible ride!