With Afghanistan already plunged into chaos during the American withdrawal in 2021, an Afghan intelligence operative, Wrangler, tries desperately to get his family to safety. With the situation growing more and more dire, Wrangler and his family reach out to a private security firm, Norseman Consulting, conducting extraction operations out of Tajikistan. When their first plan goes awry, the operative, his family, and the private security contractors have to adapt to a rapidly deteriorating environment to make their escape from the Taliban. Norseman Consulting faces more threats than the Taliban alone. The firm unexpectedly uncovers a lethal adversary back home, ruthlessly targeting them from the shadows. Will Norseman Consulting’s operatives survive the fall of Afghanistan, only to be taken out at home?
The long-awaited sequel to Frozen Reaction has finally been released! I am super excited for my sophomore release from A15 Publishing, and know you will enjoy it. Like Frozen Reaction, the Retrograde Absolution is intense, violent, and contains a lot of details about the weapons and equipment that characters use in the story. Recognizing that most readers will not have context for the weapons and equipment used, I have put together this handy guide to help you in your reading. Fair warning, this is a very image heavy post.
First, the various vehicles used in the book.
The Toyota panel van is featured prominently in the book. I chose this van because I saw a ton of them all over the Middle East. Reliable and ubiquitous, a perfect vehicle for an intelligence operative.
Extremely common throughout the world and renowned for their reliability, the Toyota Hilux is the unofficial Non-Tactical Vehicle of the Global War On Terror. Think a Toyota Tacoma but better.
Norseman Consulting’s operation in Europe uses AW-139 helicopters for aerial transport. I chose this helicopter because they are common in Europe, and the USAF will be adopting a version, the MH139 Grey Wolf, to replace the UH-1N Iroquois.
Norseman Consulting contractors hitch a ride with a CIA operated C-130J to conduct an Air Drop operation. The C-130J is one of my favorite planes, so I found a way to include it in my book.
Heavily exported and still in use, the F-5E is based on the T-38 Talon that the USAF uses for training. Norseman Consulting buys these jets off of countries that are modernizing their Air Forces to use in their contracts.
Used as a rescue craft during WWII, I have been a fan of this plane since Call of Duty: World at War let me sink Japanese patrol boats and rescue American sailors with one. Two of the Norseman Consulting pilots restored a Catalina and use it near the Climax of the book.
That’s pretty much it for vehicles. Now for a list of weapons, starting with rifles, machineguns and submachineguns.
The short-barreled B&T APC300 is the standard carbine used by Norseman Consulting. It fires the .300 Blackout cartridge and is easily suppressed.
Used in an assassination, the SPR300 also fires the .300 Blackout cartridge and is fitted with an integral suppressor.
During the Afghanistan Retrograde, a lot of military equipment fell into Taliban hands, including the standard issue rifle for the American military, the M4 Carbine. Many characters use derivatives of the M4 rifle.
The rifle version of the M4, the M16 was also captured by the Taliban and used extensively in Retrograde Absolution.
One of the Characters uses an “M4 style carbine,” much like the Colt 733.
The GAU-5 is a recently procured survival rifle for the U.S. Air Force. A couple Airmen use these rifles.
A similarly equipped AR-10 in 7.62NATO is used by a villain in the book.
The Norseman Consulting strike team led by Port uses IWI Galil ACE-32 carbines. Port chose this rifle because it allows for the easy attachment of optics and uses the extremely common Kalashnikov pattern magazines for the 7.62x39mm cartridge.
Two of the Norseman Consulting operatives are armed with Zastava M92 rifles. These short barreled rifles are much more low profile than the Galil ACE-32 that Port and his team use.
While it looks like your typical AKM, the Zastava M70 is slightly different. Still firing the common 7.62x39mm out of typical Kalashnikov pattern magazines, these Yugoslavian rifles were issued to many members of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.
The Hungarian AMD-65 is also in common use in Afghanistan.
The most common rifle in the world, the Russian AKM is based on the early AK-47 and has been copied and duplicated all over the world.
A Norseman Consulting contractor uses a Type 79 sniper rifle, similar to the pictured Type 86 above, to great effect.
The PKM Machine Gun is used multiple times throughout Retrograde Absolution.
The DShK (Dush-Kuh) is featured in use by Taliban forces.
An ally of Norseman Consulting uses an M1 Carbine in Retrograde Absolution.
Several characters use machine pistols like the Skorpion.
One of the operatives is armed with an FN 90 Personal Defense Weapon (PDW).
The preferred PDW of Norseman Consulting Operatives, the Brugger & Thomet MP9, makes another appearance in Retrograde Absolution.
With all that out of the way, its time to move on to pistols, revolvers, and shotguns.
The main Afghan intelligence operative, callsign: Wrangler, carries a Walther P99.
Several Beretta pistols make an appearance in Retrograde Absolution:
Port carries a Beretta M9A3 as his sidearm.
A couple of well worn Berretta M9s grace the pages.
An operative uses a Beretta 21A in .22LR with a homemade suppressor.
There are also several Glock pistols used:
One of the Taliban Operatives uses an older Glock 17.
One of the Norseman Consulting operatives in Retrograde Absolution carries a Glock 34 as his personal sidearm.
An intelligence operative uses the micro-compact Glock 48.
One of the two extraction team members uses a Glock 19 as his pistol. The Glock 19 is one of, if not the most, common handguns in the world.
A “new” Norseman Consulting operative uses a custom 1911 pistol as his handgun. I envision it like this example from Nighthawk Custom.
USAF personnel are armed with the newly issued Sig Sauer M18.
Some of the Norseman Consulting operatives in Retrograde Absolution carry the P320 as their sidearm. I envision them using the upgraded X Carry model over the standard model.
A single operative uses the Smith and Wesson Military & Police 9mm as his sidearm.
An early model Smith & Wesson M&P45 is used by a character in upstate New York.
Two Smith & Wesson shields are used in Retrograde Absolution, on a .45 ACP model like the picture, and the other a 9mm.
Wrangler loans a Makarov pistol to an ally early in the book.
A Tokarev pistol is used by a Taliban footsoldier.
A character uses a pair of inherited Colt revolvers, one Colt Trooper and one Colt Detective Special.
A .44 Special like the one pictured gets used and left behind in Retrograde Absolution.
Wrangler gives a sawed off shotgun to an ally near the beginning of the novel.
One of the villains uses a sawed off Mossberg shotgun like the one pictured during the climax.
Finally, a Russian-made Verba 9K333 Surface to Air launcher makes an appearance in the hands of the Taliban.
That is pretty much it for now! I hope you enjoy reading Retrograde Absolution, and if you run into me in public, I would be happy to sign a copy!