We left Alex Klear after his last black ops mission deciding he was once again retiring as an intelligence agent and settling down with his fiancé Irmie, a police detective in Munich, Germany. A phone call and a clandestine meeting changes that decision. An Army buddy from the past has been killed in Afghanistan. Our government calls it a "green-on-blue" killing -- an Afghan national shooting an American military officer he's been working with in cold blood. Alex is asked to go to Afghanistan to investigate the killing, believed by some not to be a "green-on-blue" shooting at all. Irmie is not at all pleased when Alex breaks the news to her. He is due to arrive in Germany in a few days to finalize all their wedding plans.

On his way from the airport, someone tries to blow up the vehicle Alex is in with an IED. Upon arriving in Kabul, Alex receives a somewhat cool welcome from the investigating officer in charge. Alex isn't sure why he's here with the reception he's getting. He soon learns that his dead friend, Pete Hansen, had been investigating the collapse of The Kabul Bank, an enormous bank fraud with an amazingly clever Ponzi scheme. Billions of US dollars are missing. Did Pete's investigation get him killed? As Alex delves further into the bank fraud, his own life is threatened more than once. Another question on Alex's mind: who is really running this op, and is it an American op or is another country involved?

Crisscross the globe with this endearing black ops special agent, and hang on for a wild ride. Travel from the US to Kabul, Dubai, Munich and back. Albert Ashford always gives us an outstanding military thriller, and ON EDGE is no exception. Alex is a strong, smart and driven character who gets into some precarious situations, but always comes out on top. He's surrounded by several supporting characters that are quite a mixed bag. Alex is not always sure who he can trust, who's on his side and who's not. Occasionally the story moves slowly, laying groundwork for what lies ahead. But when the pace picks up, it gets intense. The storyline takes several unexpected twists and turns to an awkward (for Alex) and surprising conclusion. Do not miss ON EDGE, a first-rate military thriller!

Book Summary

When a former Army buddy is murdered by an Afghan military colleague, U.S. Army Special Investigator Alex Klear is called back into action in Afghanistan to investigate what is thought to be a classic “green-on-blue” killing. Alex finds Kabul in a state of chaos, partly under government control, partly controlled by the Taliban.

From the beginning, he suspects that the Army has identified the wrong man as the killer, and that an innocent Afghan soldier has become the victim of a complex frame-up. His suspicions are solidified when he discovers that his friend had been investigating a massive fraud at Kabul Bank. As Alex is drawn into the epicenter of the biggest bank fraud in history, he finds his efforts systematically thwarted by both the American and the Afghanistan governments.

In the lawless streets of Kabul and into the far outreaches of Afghanistan, Alex relentlessly hunts his friend’s killer—and uncovers the truth. In real-life, an incident kept mostly out of the media—a monumental embarrassment to both countries.