Winner of 2019 IAN Year Award for best Action/Adventure Novel. CIA agent Jack Connor battles the ruthless head of the Bogotá Cartel, Joaquin Gusto who kills anyone who jeopardizes his empire. Gusto has established a secret alliance with Jihad-7, an extremist terrorist group who has activated a terrorist sleeper cell in the San Francisco Bay area. Barrett, Connor's wife, a local prosecutor is involved in a homicide case that has devastating consequences. Brutal murders and assassinations are carried out by the cartel's top assassin, a former Russian Spetsnaz KGB operative, code-name Viper. The cartel's informant, a high-level U.S. government official, provides devastating information to the cartel while he also conspires with the band of ex-Army Ranger mercenaries and plots against the cartel to satisfy his own greed, spinning a web of deceit and death. The CIA director developed a top-secret program that sends agent Connor undercover as a DEA agent to derail this devastation. Connor must stop this sleeper cell. But first his assignment must pit him against the sinister empire of the Bogotá Cartel before he understands the magnitude of his true mission. Gary Baldocchi’s first novel is “Actions of Violence”, the first of a series of novels that pit CIA counter terrorist agent Jack Connor against a major U.S. terrorist threat. Gary has served the U.S. government for 29 years as a U.S. Marine Corps officer, as an NCIS and DEA Special Agent. NCIS assignments gave him counterintelligence and counterespionage experience. DEA assignments included serving as an undercover and case agent, as a tactical, self-defense and weapons instructor, supervisor and agent in charge. His government experience has transformed his first novel into an action packed thrilling adventure. Winner of 2019 IAN Award for Action/Adventure Novel. Gary was born in San Francisco and grew up in the San Francisco bay area. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. He then was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corps, serving three years at Marine Corps Air, Station Beaufort, SC.   Afterwards, Gary received his Master's degree in Criminal Justice from Sacramento State University, and was hired by NCIS as a Special Agent for approximately 7 years. His early assignments involved narcotic investigations and foreign espionage operations. He was promoted to supervisor of a foreign counterintelligence unit and continued espionage and counter intelligence investigations.   Gary transferred to DEA as a Special Agent where he spent the next 18 years as a case agent, undercover agent, supervisor and resident in agent in charge and was involved in investigations worldwide. Throughout his entire career in NCIS and DEA he was a tactical, self-defense and firearms instructor. He holds a 4th degree black belt in Hapkido.   He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and when not writing is an avid cyclist.