David Dun Bestselling Thriller Author
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International Thriller Writers Bestselling Thriller Writer David Dun
 
                               BLACK SILENT   |   UNACCEPTABLE RISK   |    OVERFALL   |    AT THE EDGE   |    NECESSARY EVIL
 
 

The Black Silent book cover The Black Silent

 

 Coming in July 


  Read an Online Excerpt

 

Editors Note  By Ed Stackler

David Dun’s newest thriller, The Black Silent (Pinnacle original; July 2005; $6.99), melds fact with fiction into an irresistible whole like few I’ve read before. Dun’s “faction” is seamless because the science is either well supported in journals or the product of informed speculation by today’s working scientists. Like the best “what if?” fiction the story crackles with fascinating tidbits, little windows on our possible futures, from the chilling to the sublime. Make no mistake, though, The Black Silent taps real-life cultural obsessions along with those scientific currents, and then infuses it all with the peril and pacing of A-grade suspense fiction. This is a story of intense struggle between strong-minded characters and a thriller about corporate greed and desperate deeds, not a science book.

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As baby boomers age, the pursuit of a fountain of youth continues to accelerate. At the same time, we live in fear of both terrorist attacks and environmental collapse, whether its Tsunamis, massive global warming, or cataclysmic climate change. Based on cutting-edge science, The Black Silent’s premise involves all the elements each rooted in the true-to-life Archaea organism, found in the deepest sea bottoms, which scientists believe may play a role in either preserving or destroying life on earth.

In The Black Silent, Dr. Ben Anderson has disappeared. An eminent scientist working in Seattle’s northern Puget Sound amongst some of the worlds most beautiful islands, commonly known as the San Juan islands of Washington state. Dr. Anderson has discovered the astonishing secrets of the Arcs. Already someone has tried and failed to kill him, and someone else holds him captive. As Haley, Dr. Anderson’s adopted daughter, and Sam, his nephew and a recuperating investigator, search for the missing scientist; others are in determined pursuit, including the prestigious Sanker Corporation, Dr. Anderson’s partner in research. At first it appears that Ben has shared his top-secret research with no one, not even Sanker. Gradually a much larger picture emerges and it becomes shockingly clear how one man could possess such a wealth of information.

Sanker is about to merge with a rival, and their management dominance depends on their ability to score the huge potential revenues possible from Ben’s research. Haley and Sam’s search is impeded by a dangerous rogue director of security at Sanker, whose mission is to eliminate Dr. Anderson and snatch his rich cache of research. The Black Silent reaches its intense climax on the sea, as science and corporate greed wage a fierce battle for the future of the planet’s soul.

Author's Personal Comments

The Black Silent started at the regular Monday night dinner. A bunch of guys get together and exaggerate about everything, drink a little and go home. The restaurant was dark, the bar a little darker, and my friend Richard was telling me that he had just learned what lies at the bottom of the sea, and that it blew his mind. I indulged him, listening as I ate and drank. Then I simply listened. This was the sort of discovery that will make you stop chewing in the middle of a bite out of a good burger. Richard spoke excitedly, but I didn’t know whether to believe this whopping tale.

Soon I’m talking to geologists, biologists, and molecular biologists about a world that I had no idea existed. It was a place thousands of feet under the ocean, but not just that. You have to go even deeper, sometimes a thousand feet or more under the sediment at the bottom of the sea.

There, you find a marvel. A miracle. One scientist described organisms with energy efficiency so extreme that they’re comparable to a race of humans that could survive one year on a slice of pizza. I learned of incredible biological and geological processes with astounding implications for humankind: a human dream or a nightmare, and everything in between. We’re talking about processes that could end life on earth as we know it or make it unthinkably better.

One of my fictional characters, Dr. Ben Anderson of The Black Silent, discovered both the dream and the nightmare. It stirred the greed of men who would do anything to possess his secrets. And the details behind Ben Anderson’s science, you’ll find, could soon be knocking at the door of your life.

Next time I saw Richard at that bar I told him, “You don’t know the half of what’s down there.” Before long, The Black Silent will hit store shelves around the country.

People will call this a fast book (I know this because they already have). It is perhaps unusually so because of the nature of the story.

People may be referring to the fact that the race and the chase never stop, and the entire book takes place in just twenty-four hours. Stories birth themselves in authors' minds and are nurtured by some of their own loves and interests. I thought that, since I need to fill this space with something, I would tell you about some of the experiences that led to The Black Silent.

The setting of The Black Silent reflects the intrigue of quiet harbors and rushing blue waters driven by the tides, mounded by the winds; of small yachts; the stink of the sea at low tide; and my many fond memories of the myriad San Juan Islands and in particular three islands in the northwest corner of Washington State. The characters in this novel can’t stop long to enjoy this water bound dream-land but they do cast a sidelong glance now and then.

When I was in my twenties my wife, a pilot, took me on a memorable ride through the San Juan Islands skimming just over the water, winding through the jutting tree-covered rocks and islands as if we were a speed boat riding on a cushion of air (except of course when we landed in the ocean). We had a fine lunch on a wild beach. I did not know then that I was gathering material for a novel.

These interests and memories have provided a unique link to the feeling of being in touch with the characters, their predicaments and the places in The Black Silent. My memories: Hours spent on the veranda by the coffee shop over looking Friday Harbor; eating the oysters; dry-suit diving in chilly waters; calm days anchored in secluded inlets; violent rides in raging storms. You'll find all these memories woven in there in some way to convey the feeling of place and the scare in the fictional adventure. Hey, I think it really happened.

For me another piece of intrigue is the pace of The Black Silent. This is the fastest moving story I have written and the challenge was to find a moment in the story that would allow you, the reader, to get to know the characters.

The riddle in the story is of interest to me because I found the real life science quite absorbing. It is dramatic science. More like discussing when the next sizeable meteor might strike the earth or how we might control mother earth's climate, than why an amoeba has a certain unexpected genetic structure. The human biology is even more fascinating for me, but that could be because middle age is upon me.

This second piece of the puzzle came when I was at a party of scientists. Someone said: "Hey, you've got to come and meet one of the guys who starves mice to make them live longer." He was William Pendergrass, Ph.D., of the University of Washington Medical School, Department of Pathology. I learned he didn't starve them, he puts them on a reduced caloric diet. Dr. Bill shared with me some fascinating things that later proved very related in my mind to the strange happenings at the bottom of the sea (and if they aren’t strictly related it makes a heck of an interesting story but you will be the judge of that).

I wondered how it might all fit together--what sort of revolution in human civilization it might inspire. I was intrigued...and so indeed were the characters of The Black Silent. Perhaps the facts of the deep ocean and the shining light of molecular biology will grip you as well. More likely I suppose it will be the titanic battle between the science guys and the corporate types.

Since, like most suspense fiction, it depends in part on surprise, I'll pass on telling you about the details of the science mystery until after you've read the story. Look for the surprising truth in The Science Behind the Books on this website. However, so as not to spoil the fun, you may want to read the book first.

A Word About the Islands

People come from all over the world to catch some of the special charm of the San Juan Islands just north of Seattle, Washington. Particularly Yachtsmen. Whether you charter a small yacht (or a large one) or take the many ferries, it’s a place that most people with a bit of poetry in their soul will want to visit. The general areas described in The Black Silent are for the most part real. If you should wander around San Juan, Orcas, or Lopez islands, please respect people’s private property rights. Folks go to these islands, myself included, so that we can get away from it all. I know you will go easy on the nerves of the generally friendly inhabitants of these islands. Also when you go to Lopez, most everybody waves. It’s a custom. Wave back. The restaurants and cafes on all three islands are great and you will enjoy most every place you try. Maybe I will see you there.

—David Dun

 

Excerpts   An attempted murder underwater reveals a sinister plot
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

 

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Unacceptable Risk Unacceptable Risk

 Now Available 



Sam Wintripp, a half Tilok Native American espionage expert, must foil a double plot to unleash a deadly brain-altering genetic vector into U.S. cities and a potent electronic virus into the worldÍs interconnected computer systems.

A powerful and potentially dangerous form of biotechnology has fallen into the hands of a terrorist mastermind. With it he plans to use microscopic vector particles developed originally for therapeutic purposes to make genetic modifications in humans on a large scale. The unlucky victims become senselessly violent until they die 48 hours later. Sam fears that the simultaneous outbreak of random violence and a massive attack on essential US computer systems will destabilize financial markets, a circumstance that will allow anyone with advance knowledge to make huge profits.

A crack team of high-tech experts tracks the plots' mastermind through cyberspace while Sam pursues him across the continent. The fate of millions of people depends upon their success.

Unacceptable Risk is the second Sam Wintripp novel, following Overfall.

Read an Online Excerpt

Chapter 1 A platoon of mercenaries disturb the peace around Sam's mountain cabin. Sam must discover who wants him dead, and why.

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Overfall  Overfall
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Travel to the islands off British Columbia, the forests of Borneo, and the island of Manhattan in Dun's third adventure novel. 

After a risky water rescue, a pair of unlikely allies find themselves embroiled in a plot to turn the latest advances in gene therapy to deadly use. As the plot twists and turns, readers will be pulled into a thriller as gripping as the whirlpool currents that give the book its name.

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Chapter 1 Sam Wintripp, cousin of Necessary Evil's Kier, settles in for a relaxing vacation on his yacht.
Chapter 2 Sam's calm is broken by an unknown woman's desperate dash for the safety of his boat. 

 

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At The Edge cover
 At The Edge
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Deep in a redwood forest lies a deadly secret that two sworn enemies—joined in an extraordinary mission—must uncover to survive.

Dan Young, a big city corporate attorney, and Maria Fischer, an environmental activist and attorney, are professional rivals whose disagreements have recently threatened to spill over into personal animosity. The philosophical rift between them is profound, but their adversarial relationship is turned upside down when Dan's client sends him on a bewildering mission—to hand-deliver $500,000 in cash to Maria Fischer.

A simple plan gone awry

Excerpts
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2

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Necessary Evil book cover

 A USA Today National Bestseller!
 Necessary Evil


A private jet crashes in the snowbound mountains of northern California, bringing with it a plane full of exotic toxins, paramilitary shock troops, and a blizzard of death.

Kier Wintripp, a renowned veterinary doctor and Tilok Indian, and Jessie Mayfield, a big city FBI agent, are brought together when the thunderous crash draws them into the forest to investigate. There they discover the twisted remains of a corporate jet and nine bullet-riddled bodies bearing silenced weapons. The jet's cargo: a secret so astounding that its owner will do anything to protect it...

A villain with the cunning of Machiavelli

Excerpts
Chapter 1

Character Profiles
Kier Wintripp
Jessie Mayfield
Grandfather, a.k.a., Stalking Bear

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