Kate’s 2¢: “Steel Fear” by Brandon Webb

“Steel Fear” by Brandon Webb

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This was quite the thriller and kept me reading and reading. I must admit, I did not discover the killer until that person was disclosed.

   Johnathan McClain Did a good job of narrating this story. Thank you.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brandon Tyler Webb (born June 12, 1974) is a former United States Navy SEAL and SEAL Sniper course Head Instructor, with one combat deployment to Afghanistan and one to the Persian Gulf. Webb is the Founder and CEO of Hurricane Group, LLC, which includes sofrep.com, The Load Out Room, sofrep radio, and the SpecOps Channel on YouTube. Brandon Webb is also a media commentator on snipers and related Special Operations Forces military issues.[1] Webb is a New York Times Best Selling Author[2] who has written or collaborated on twelve books. Webb received his education at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and after separating from the Navy attended Harvard Business School’s OPM (Owner/President Management) program. He gives keynote speeches to Fortune 500 companies. He is a member of the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) chapter, and a Harvard Business School alumni.[3]

Military career[edit]

Webb joined the Navy in 1993 and began his career as an Aviation Warfare Systems Operator and Search and Rescue Swimmer with two deployments to the Persian Gulf on the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Kittyhawk. He completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training class 215 in 1998. He was then assigned to SEAL Team 3.

File:Brandon_Tyler_Webb_Milita…

Photo of Brandon Tyler Webb during his early Military service

In 2000, Webb was invited to undergo training at the SEAL Sniper Course. After becoming a certified SEAL Sniper, he deployed to the Persian Gulf with SEAL Team 3 GOLF platoon, and Afghanistan in 2001 with ST3 ECHO platoon. After his last deployment with SEAL Team 3, Webb worked at the Naval Special Warfare Group One Sniper Cell and Naval Special Warfare Center Sniper program as the Sniper Course Manager.

Year

Military Service Activity

March of 1993

Brandon Webb underwent Bootcamp at Recruit Training Center located at Orlando, Florida

May of 1993

Enrolled at Naval Enlisted Aircrew Training School located at Pensacola, Florida

July 1993

Enrolled at Search and Rescue Swimmer (SAR) school

1995-98

assigned to Helicopter Squadron 6.

1998-2002

Brandon Webb was assigned to “SEAL Team 3”

1999

attended the Naval Special Warfare Group One (NSWG-1) West Coast SEAL Sniper Course

2000

Brandon Webb and “SEAL Team 3 GOLF Platoon” was Deployed to the Persian Gulf to conduct non-compliant ship boardings, then they were diverted to Aden, Yemen to aid the stricken USS Cole.

2001

Brandon Webb was deployed to Afghanistan with SEAL Team 3, ECHO Platoon

2002

assigned to “Naval Special Warfare Group One”, Training Detachment (TRADET)

2002

meritoriously promoted to E6 as the top #1 ranked E5 at Naval Special Warfare Group 1 TRADET, as Sniper Cell Instructor.

2002-2003

served at Naval Special Warfare, Training Detachment, Group One

2003-2006

promoted to United States Navy Chief petty officer / “E-7” as Naval Special Warfare Center “Sniper Course Manager”

Overall, Brandon Tyler Webb’s military service spanned from 1993 to 2006, during which he underwent rigorous training and deployed to various locations as an aircrew SAR swimmer with HS6 and later as a SEAL sniper with SEAL Team 3.

His roles included serving as a Sniper Cell Instructor and later as the Sniper Course Manager at the Naval Special Warfare Center. Throughout his career, Webb demonstrated exceptional skill and leadership, culminating in his promotion to E7/Chief Petty Officer.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Steel fear: a thriller DB120541

Webb, Brandon Reading time: 13 hours, 19 minutes.

Johnathan McClain

Suspense Fiction

Historical Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

“Discovering that there is a serial killer onboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, disgraced Navy SEAL sniper Finn finds suspicion falling on him as a newcomer and must expose the real killer while searching for redemption”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download Steel fear: a thriller DB120541

Kate’s 2¢: “In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked” by Jonna Mendez

“In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked” by Jonna Mendez

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

Barbara Benjamin-Creel did a good job of reading this biography. I like to have a female narrator read a female’s memoir.

      Mendez certainly led an exciting life. She knew she’d have to start at the bottom, but she has a few colleagues who supported her along the way…not to mention her husband.

   Personally, I like mothers to stay at home with their pre-schoolers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonna Hiestand was born in 1945 in Campbellsville, Kentucky. In 1963, she graduated from high school in Wichita, Kansas and went on to attend college at Wichita State University. After graduation, she worked for Chase Bank in Frankfurt. In 1966, she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Europe and started a career with them.[1][2]

In the CIA, Mendez lived under cover and served tours of duty in Europe, the Far East, the Subcontinent, and at CIA Headquarters. In the 1970’s, she joined the Office of Technical Service and worked overseas with a speciality in clandestine photography. As a technical operations officer, Mendez also prepared the CIA’s most highly placed foreign assets in the use of spy cameras and the processing of intelligence gathered by them. In this role, she also developed creative photography skills. In 1982, she was one of the few selected for a year-long leadership development program. At the program’s completion, she was given a choice among some assignments and became a generalist in disguise, identity transformation, and clandestine imaging in South and Southeast Asia.

She was assigned to Denied Area Operations for disguise in 1986. This took her to the most difficult and hostile operating areas in the world where she and her colleagues matched wits with the overwhelming forces of the KGB in Moscow, the Stasi in East Germany and the Cuban DGI.[1] In 1988, she was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Disguise Division and in 1991, Chief of Disguise. During her tenure as Chief of Disguise, she met with President George H.W. Bush in a mask disguise, which she removed in the meeting to demonstrate the effectiveness of the art of disguise.[3][4] In 1993, she retired and was awarded the CIA’s Commendation Medal.[1][5][6][7]

Jonna Hiestand Goeser met her future second husband, Tony Mendez, also a CIA officer, while assigned to Bangkok. Tony Mendez is widely known for overseeing the joint covert rescue mission “Canadian Caper” during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, a story that served as inspiration for the 2012 movie Argo directed by Ben Affleck.[8] Following Mendez’s retirement in 1990, he and Jonna married in 1991. They had a son together.[9][6][10]

Later years[edit]

After retiring from the CIA in 1993, Mendez and her husband[11] served on the board of directors for the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. They were both involved in the museum planning and design.[6] She was one of the 51 former intelligence officers who signed the public statement on the Hunter Biden emails, which claimed that the scandal was a Russian information operation.[12]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked DB120135

Mendez, Jonna Reading time: 8 hours, 45 minutes.

Barbara Benjamin-Creel

Government and Politics

Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures

“Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a “contract wife,” a second-class citizen who was hired as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Switzerland. She needed his permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to her apartment, and she performed menial duties for the CIA. Despite battling sexism at all levels of the agency, Mendez’s talent for espionage was clear, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles. She lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, as well as at CIA Headquarters. She confronted dangerous situations that called on her spy training: coming face to face with a rogue Jihadi who had brought down an American plane, and helping steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet embassy, among other high stakes situations. She became an international spy and ultimately Chief of Disguise at CIA’s Office of Technical Service–a kind of female American version of James Bond’s famous “Q.” In this breakthrough memoir, Mendez recounts not only the drama of her international spy career but the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate the CIA’s misogynistic world. She was undermined, harassed, and threatened, and saw colleagues experience worse. While maintaining a patriotic mission and working to advance her own career, she was a firsthand witness to the cost of this gendered culture, both to the women who worked there, and to the interests of the agency and the nation it serves. In True Face is both clear-eyed and dramatic: the story of an incredible spy career, and what it took to achieve it”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked DB120135

Kate’s 2¢: “Vienna spies” by Alex Gerlis

“Vienna spies” by Alex Gerlis

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Rupert Bush  Did a good job of reading this interesting, tense, and intriguing novel. Now exactly how much was fact and how much was fiction?

From the Publisher’s Web page:

Alex Gerlis is the author of the acclaimed Spies series of four Second World War espionage thrillers which are noted for their detailed research and intricate plots and feature two great adversaries: the British spymaster Edgar and his Soviet counterpart Viktor. The television/film rights for The Best of Our Spies have been bought by a major production company. He lives in west London with his wife and family.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Vienna spies DB120269

Gerlis, Alex Reading time: 11 hours, 55 minutes.

Rupert Bush

Historical Fiction

Spy Stories

War Stories

“A new and terrifying enemy rears it head at last. With the end of the Second World War in sight, the Allies begin to divide up the spoils. It proves to be a dangerous game. The British realise that the Soviet Union is intent on controlling Austria. Major Edgar is tasked with establishing an espionage unit in Vienna to monitor the situation. He sends two agents to bring Austria’s most respected politician over to the British cause. But the feared Soviet spy Viktor Krasotkin is already in the war-torn city, on exactly the same mission. The game is on. A taut, tense masterclass in espionage fiction, perfect for fans of John le Carré and Alan Furst.”–Back cover. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download Vienna spies DB120269Kate’s 2¢: “W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset” by Brian Andrews“W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset” by Brian Andrews
NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…
 
   Oh Dear Gussie! There sure was a lot of blood and guts in this story, but they saved their man and rid the world of a few bad guys, too.
   Scott Brick Did a good job of reading this novel.
  
From the web:
BRIAN ANDREWS . Brian is a US Navy veteran, nuclear engineer, and former submarine officer. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in psychology, holds a Master’s in business from Cornell, and is a Park Leadership Fellow.
 
Wikipedia
William Edmund Butterworth III (November 10, 1929 – February 12, 2019), [1] better known by his pen name W. E. B. Griffin, was an American writer of military and detective fiction with 59 novels in seven series published under that name. Twenty-one of those books were co-written with his son, William E Butterworth IV.
 
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset DB120270
Andrews, Brian Reading time: 12 hours, 4 minutes.
Scott Brick
 
Suspense Fiction
Spy Stories
 
“The secretary of state has been kidnapped by Islamic extremists and his only hope for survival is a reconstituted Presidential Agent team in this revival of W. E. B. Griffin’s New York Times bestselling series”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
 

Download W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset DB120270
 
 

Kate’s 2¢: “Winterwood” by Pat McCabe

“Winterwood” by Pat McCabe

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

  Well this story kept me coming and going as to where the character was and what he was doing. When are facts lies and lies facts? It is if the author had several stories he wanted to tell, wrote them down, then cut them apart and pasted them higgily-piggily.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Patrick McCabe (born 27 March 1955) is an Irish writer. Known for his mostly dark and violent novels set in contemporary—often small-town—Ireland, McCabe has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, for The Butcher Boy (1992) and Breakfast on Pluto (1998), both of which have been made into films.

Biography[edit]

McCabe was born in Clones, County Monaghan.[1] He resides in Clones with his artist wife Margot Quinn[2] and two daughters, Katie and Ellen.[citation needed] Aged 17 he migrated to London and worked as a teacher, returning to Ireland after finding success as a writer.[2]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Winterwood: a novel DB65766

McCabe, Pat. Reading time: 6 hours, 24 minutes.

Read by Alec Volz.

Psychological Fiction

Irish journalist Redmond Hatch returns to his mountain hometown and interviews old fiddler Ned Strange. Hatch’s marriage collapses, and he becomes plagued by memories of his encounters with the fiddler. Strange’s death sends Hatch spiraling downward, exposing disturbing truths about their relationship. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2006.

Downloaded: January 1, 2025

Download Winterwood: a novel

Kate’s 2¢: “Amadeus” by Peter Shaffer  

“Amadeus” by Peter Shaffer  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I thoroughly enjoyed this dramatic presentation of this story. Well done, troops!

   I especially like the way selections of Mozart’s works were integrated into the drama. Thank you.

   This selection was included in a cartridge  with six other stories on it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Peter Levin Shaffer CBE (15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is best known for the plays Equus and Amadeus, the latter of which was adapted for the screen by Miloš Forman, with a screenplay by Shaffer, for which he won an Academy Award.

Early life[edit]

Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in Liverpool, the son of Reka (née Fredman) and estate agent Jack Shaffer.[1] He grew up in London and was the identical twin brother of fellow playwright Anthony Shaffer.[2]

He was educated at the Hall School, Hampstead, and St Paul’s School, London, and subsequently he gained a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, to study history. Shaffer was a Bevin Boy coal miner during World War II, and took a number of jobs including bookstore clerk, and assistant at the New York Public Library, before discovering his dramatic talents.[3]

Theatrical career[edit]

Shaffer’s first play, The Salt Land (1955), was presented on ITV on 8 November 1955. Encouraged by this success, Shaffer continued to write and established his reputation as a playwright in 1958, with the production of Five Finger Exercise,[4] which opened in London under the direction of John Gielgud and won the Evening Standard Drama Award. When Five Finger Exercise moved to New York City in 1959, it was equally well received and landed Shaffer the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play.

Shaffer’s next piece was a double bill, The Private Ear and The Public Eye, two plays each containing three characters and concerning aspects of love. They were presented in May 1962 at the Globe Theatre, and both starred Maggie Smith and Kenneth Williams. Smith won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Leading Actress.[5]

The National Theatre was established in 1963, and virtually all of Shaffer’s subsequent work was done in its service. His canon contains a mix of philosophical dramas and satirical comedies. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964) presents the conquest and killing of the Inca ruler Atahuallpa by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro in Peru, while Black Comedy (1965) takes a humorous look at the antics of a group of characters feeling their way around a pitch-black room – although the stage is actually flooded with light.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:                    

Amadeus DB118172

Shaffer, Peter Reading time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

Alan Shearman; Jocelyn Towne; Simon Templeman; Brian Tichnell; Mark Jude Sullivan; Darren Richardson; James Callis; Michael Emerson; Steven Brand

Arts

Drama

“Ambition and jealousy – all set to music. Devout court composer Antonio Salieri plots against his rival, the dissolute but supremely talented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. How far will Salieri go to achieve the fame that Mozart disregards? The 1981 Tony Award winner for Best Play. Recorded before a live audience at the UCLA James Bridges Theater in September, 2016.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download Amadeus DB118172