Category Archives: Action thrillers

by Barry Kelly | February 8, 2015 · 7:15 am

INSIGHTS 187 — Run to Freedom

As I am getting ready to publish another Jack Brandon action mystery novel, Quiet Justice, I want to call your attention to my last novel, which I believe was my best written story with complex interwoven plots. For some reason beyond me, this novel never got the same attention as the other three. When I started writing fiction, I searched for a plot where I could use my experience as the CIA station chief in Moscow in the early 1970s. Run to Freedom is that story.

Barry Kelly’s fourth novel

Below is a review from someone who has read and commented on all my Brandon action/mysteries.

Run to Freedom, July 12, 2014, by Debbie Merlo

Run to Freedom is the story of John Brandon, grandfather of Peter Brandon, the man on whom the series is centered.

Run to Freedom begins in 1919 with Lieutenant Brandon on a train that’s bound for Siberia.

There follows the story and the struggle of the Brandon family as they try to escape the Soviet Union to find freedom in America …

If I had to choose which book of Barry Kelly’s was my favorite of Justice Beyond Law, Justice Without Mercy, Shades of Justice and Run to Freedom, I’d have to say “all of them.”

Run to Freedom, however, was an amazing read and probably the one I was able to enjoy most.

Run to Freedom was most enjoyable for a couple of reasons: not only was it a clever way to catch readers up to speed then wanting for more, but it connected and completed the story of the Brandon family so well that whether a reader chose to start with Run to Freedom or work their way through the series as I did, it wouldn’t matter.

Kelly is an equal-entertainment author and knows how to keep a reader on the edge and wondering.

For example, from the train wreck in Siberia in 1919 when we first learn of the life of Lieutenant John Brandon, grandfather of Peter, did (his life) end the way or even when we think it did?

That alone is reason (and hope) to believe Kelly considers his fans first and keeps his pen poised to many possibilities.
Reading all four/in order isn’t a requisite either.

With more than enough action and adventure in each, all are able to stand alone as a single story, however, as any avid reader knows, it’s a “more is better mindset” that keeps us in books and turning pages.

Reading the series though, is most definitely recommended as it’s an all-inclusive adventure that delivers what is promised: fast breaking action, suspense and drama.

Kelly’s writing is refreshing, enjoyable and hard to put down.

The biggest challenge for me began as I got started with Justice Beyond Law: I spent a great deal of time wondering (while I read) exactly how ex-CIA agent Kelly was able to take his experiences and turn them into fiction without giving away any government secrets.

Needless to say, I was captivated with questions but not for long: I soon found myself too enthralled to worry.

That Kelly also found a way to use just the right mix of humor was one of those pleasant surprises that, stereo typically speaking, isn’t normally associated (for me anyway) with a person who’s spent his entire career submerged in the serious and secret nature of government operations.

Of course, by the time I made my way to Run to Freedom, I was left longing for more and hoping Kelly has plans to continue intriguing fans with future adventures for the Brandon family.

I’d recommend Run to Freedom — and the other three books by Kelly — to anyone who’s a fan of mystery, intrigue and espionage.

And for anyone who argues they aren’t? Be assured: read just one and that will change.

These four books should be a must have for everyone who enjoys a good read — or several.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, bouviers, dogs, Intelligence & Politics, Russia, Spy novels, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | February 6, 2015 · 7:23 am

INSIGHTS 186 — Law Enforcement and War

A new novel I titled “Quiet Justice” is in process to be published in the coming weeks. As my readers know, my stories usually have a message about the dangers of using “law and order” methods to fight a war on terrorism. Below is a passage in “Quiet Justice” from a fictional character:

“This administration, like most, is run by and controlled by lawyers. They all worship at the altar of ‘law and order.’ They are all process people who have been trained and even conditioned to focus on the process. As a result, our entire judicial and legislative branches are focused on the process of law enforcement, almost never on the substance. That’s why people often complain that the system spends more time and resources on those charged with crimes than upon the victims of the crimes. This mindset dominates both political parties.

“A policy of using the structure of ‘law and order’ to combat terrorism is a national suicide pact. We will never have the time and resources to gather evidence against terrorists and their supporters that will stand up to the evidence requirements of our judicial system. The chain of evidence is insane when the crime scene is in a war zone or a place too dangerous to use crime scene protocols. There is also the danger to the law enforcement officers and others trying to accommodate to evidentiary requirements. More planning and risk are caused by rules than by the actual operation to apprehend the terrorists.

“For entirely homegrown terrorists involving American citizens, the rules of ‘law and order’ are appropriate and proper. But when the terrorist is trained abroad, fights against America with a foreign entity, and is captured in a foreign land or caught returning to America to conduct terrorist operations, we need an alternative approach.”

We have a president and a former attorney general who tried to force the incarceration of captured terrorists into the law and order process of American courts. Why? A hard question. I can’t and don’t want to ever be inside their heads. But it seems clear they both have disdain for the military process that has worked for us in past wars. Our military has always been nationalized, as it should be. Both Obama’s and Holder’s (current nominee’s views at unknown at this time.) actions indicated they are for nationalizing everything possible. Maybe this is all about nationalizing the nation’s civil police force. Holder certainly interjects the Justice Department in areas and times where it is inappropriate and contrary to our past heritage.

Whatever the reason, we are losing the war against radical Islamists on all fronts under the philosophy of leading from behind and that Muslims are not responsible for the deluge of terrorism. When will our president recognize he should drop his pro-Islamic posture and carry out his oath of office to protect America?

Mr. President, we are at war with Islamic radicals who are not held in check by the so-called leaders of the Islamic religion. Forget about closing Guantanamo Bay and focus on fighting the real war against Islamic terrorists. You just might look presidential.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “Quiet Justice” will be out by early March.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, ISIS, Obama, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | October 27, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 168: TERRORISM AND YOU

There are only two subjects I put ahead of terrorism — freedom and the economy — and they are hard to separate. Terrorism will be with us for a long time. The “Red Army,” the Baader Mienhof gang, Black September and Abu Nidal’s PFLP (the Palestine Front for the Liberation of Palestine) never had the power and support that Islamic Radical Islam enjoys today under its various names. There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today. In nearly 50 countries they are a majority. The goal of radical Islam is not to disrupt Western nations. The goal is world domination. A world that lives under Sharia law. That includes you, your children, and grandchildren. So don’t you think you should know more about it than news media sound bites?

I have followed this subject for several decades as a CIA officer, a special assistant to President Reagan with responsibilities of being his point on terrorism and intelligence, and from the vantage point of several field assignments, including Vietnam, South Asia, and the Middle East. Much of my knowledge and experience is contained in the novels I have written. Of course, I would like to be a best-selling author but also I have knowledge I want to share with my readers. My first two novels, “Justice Beyond Law” and “Justice Without Mercy,” take the reader through the setup of terrorist cells and targets including the recruitment and training of Americans by Islamists to attack soft targets in America. The novels also show that the Obama administration’s blind reliance on “law and order” tactics cannot win the war against terrorism.

My last novel, “Run to Freedom,” contains a fictional dialogue between two KGB officers in a spy school outside Moscow discussing the tactics and strategy of terrorism. The reader gets to follow the terrorists and their opposition step by step until the conclusion. It is fiction but the operational planning on both sides is guided by real experience and nothing is beyond the realm of the possible.

I’m am now writing a fifth novel with the same characters. I now call this story “Quiet Justice.” This novel won’t be published for a few more months. It will feature ISIS terrorism activity in America.

Meeting with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, Deputy National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and General Colin Powell in the Oval Office.

This blog is written by the author of the Jack Brandon novels. The author (pictured far right) has 27 years of government service, including two years serving President Ronald Reagan (middle left) in the 1980s as an adviser. His books can be found on Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Nook or ordered through your local book store. Visit me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/factsandfictions and follow me on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Spy novels, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | August 4, 2014 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 135

OBAMA’S FOREIGN POLICY

We all know our president does not like the tedious nature of foreign entanglements but by education and experience he is not prepared for working on the world stage. Maybe that’s why he is so eager to turn to the United Nations to handle problems our previous presidents, with one exception, understood and handled in house.

beforeitsnews.com

President Obama’s intellectual mentor, Mr. Saul Alinsky, wrote a brilliant guide for progressives (socialists and far left liberals) to gain power. Unfortunately, Mr. Alinsky never had any experience running a government. So even after the president is well on his way to seizing power, he is not equipped to use it to solve America’s foreign and domestic problems. He continues to use all issues as a means to destroy his opposition, the Republican Party. And that is Obama’s weakness. He doesn’t know how to use or keep power. Unfortunately for the nation, the Republican Party is not worth the title of the opposition party.

The president has not been helped by his two secretaries of state. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are also clueless when it comes to solving intricate foreign policy issues. I have long been a student of foreign affairs. It is very hard to point to anything those two hapless secretaries of state have accomplished except to compete for leaving the heaviest jet engine carbon trail of any previous and hopefully future secretary of state. Their responses to any foreign affairs issue facing the president have been limited to causing chaos and confusion. The world is in worse shape than any time since WWII. Korea and Vietnam were not nearly the threat to world stability as current Russia, China, Iran, the Islamic Caliphate or the current conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The last troubled area is worth some more discussion. John Kerry, who I believe cannot be underrated, is proving again he can make any bad situation worse. Imagine the hypocrisy of bringing a truce agreement to Israel that was based on his consultations with leaders in Turkey and Qatar who are open suppliers and political supporters of Hamas, a recognized terrorist state. Any secretary of state with an ounce of common sense would have stopped in Egypt for advice. Egypt holds the overland gateway to Gaza and has a direct interest in stability on its borders since the Muslim Brotherhood is no longer in power in Egypt.

It is possible that Secretary Kerry was acting on the instructions of the president, who seems to be very pro-Muslim and, by his speeches and actions, clearly anti-Israel. If Kerry was acting on the president’s orders, it is clear that creating chaos and weakening the influence of America in the world still needs more attention from our president. In the least, it further exposes the ineptitude of our foreign policy secretary. There used to be a time when secretaries would refuse foreign policy approaches they did not feel were ethically or pragmatically acceptable.

Complicated? Hard to believe? Can’t be true? Read my new book, “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” which is free on Kindle for a limited time.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Israel, Obama, Politics, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as foreign policy, hamas, Hillary Clinton, Israel, John Kerry, Obama, president barack obama, Saul Alinsky, socialism, transformation

by Barry Kelly | May 21, 2014 · 7:35 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 115

NOT JUST STORIES

I’m getting ready to publish my first non fiction book, “INSIGHTS — THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA” Is This What We Fought For?” The message in this book is clear. The transformation of America is happening now and most of our population doesn’t understand what is happening or what to do about it.

This book will make the process clear for anyone who reads it. Although my four action novels are mainly tales from a storyteller, they also contained a messages that help readers understand the law and order process and how terrorists and intelligence operatives go about their missions. This increased awareness will help readers recognize dangerous situations before they happen.

My first novel, Justice Beyond law, shows how a renegade KGB officer uses an abandoned network of KGB agents infiltrated into America years ago.

“Justice Beyond Law”

The method Yuri, the renegade KGB officer, uses to turn his network into a profit-making enterprise and to manage his diverse network with agents of different skills is more than plausible. The methods he uses strain the traditional law-and-order approach to terrorism. The traditional approach involves the collection of evidence that will stand up in a court system bound to provide the protections of our Constitution and the rules of due process to all residents, legal or illegal. The collection period is followed by an indictment, the issue of warrants, an arrest and finally a trial. An immense effort over a long period but a very important element of our individual rights. The heroes of this novel believe when dealing with terrorists who are in the country illegally, sometimes the safety of our people requires faster action then the law and order process allow.

The second novel, Justice Without Mercy, shows the process an extremist muslim group like al Qaeda might use to set up a series of

Justice without Mercy

terrorist acts in America to weaken the resolve of the people and lessen their trust in government to protect them. The plot in this novel is more probable than most people believe. Traditional law and order process is not capable of dealing with the fast-moving action of terrorism in the homeland. The law and order process pushed by the Obama administration, particularly by the attorney general, is more political than an effective counter-terrorist approach. There is a war brought by Islamic jihadists against us. It needs to be fought with a similar approach. Foreign jihadists don’t qualify for the protections of our constitution.

Shades of Justice deals with human trafficking that can be a profit-making business both for terrorist organizations and criminals. Readers of this novel will see how simple it is to set up a human trafficking business in nearly any large city. They will also come away with an understanding of how the traffickers operate their business from the spotting and selection of targets, to the capture, movement, holding, and marketing of the victims. The ‘good guys and gals’ in this novel understand and attack all aspects of the human-trafficking process. As you read this, note the challenge human trafficking poses to traditional law and order forces.

My latest novel, Run to Freedom, is the prequel to the Jack Brandon adventure series. In this story I rely heavily upon my knowledge of the old USSR

Barry Kelly’s fourth novel

and its KGB intelligence apparatus. The story starts in 1920 in Siberia, with a little known excursion of American troops, just as WWI was wrapping up. In this novel the readers will travel from Russia, to Poland, to Canada and several cities in America as Peter Brandon, Jack’s father, tries to escape the KGB in America. The forces the KGB deploys in America to capture or kill Peter are entirely within the capabilities of Russian intelligence in 1970’s America, as are the methods Peter uses to escape the dragnet.

All stories have some truth to them; within fiction lies reality. I hope you are able to read and understand, and take to heart, the messages in my fiction novels and will want to find out the message in my first non-fiction novel. Thanks for reading.