Is Kim Jong-il really a fanatical fan of Dick Marcinko, the Rogue Warrior? Has the terrifying tyrant actually read every one of Marcinko's many New York Times bestsellers? One thing is certain: the Rogue Warrior wants nothing to do with the brutal despot. When, in Dictator's Ransom, "the loathsome dwarf"--as George W. Bush derided him--invites Marcinko to the Hermit Kingdom, the Rogue Warrior instantly declines...prompting the CIA to RSVP on his behalf. Marcinko is to track down four covert nuclear warheads secreted in the Supreme Leader's palace. More than just a thriller, Dictator's Ransom is a novel of electrifying energy and wicked wit. Former Navy SEAL Marcinko, working with coauthor DeFelice, once again blends fact and fiction in the latest installment of his Rogue Warrior series based on his own exploits as Demo Dick. This time a messenger arrives at Demo Dick’s compound with an invitation from North Korean president Kim Jon Il. It seems that the dictator is a huge fan of Dick’s novels and wants to meet him. Of course, the request involves more than just a fan-boy dictator wanting to meet his favorite author. One of Kim Jon’s sons has disappeared, and he hopes that Dick and his crack commando team can locate him. The twists are shocking, the action is swift and violent, and the humor never lets up for a second. As usual, it is difficult to tell fact from fiction, but that‘s part of the fun. Fans of this over-the-top series will snap this one up eagerly. --Jeff Ayers “Marcinko is a master at showing us his world. Marcinko’s stories are as vivid as they are real. He’s been there, and he has the talent to take us with him."--Larry Bond, New York Times bestselling author of Dangerous Ground “Once you start reading you won't be able to stop! It's a rare treat to read a thriller that is uproariously, gloriously and unrepentantly hilarious.”--David Hagberg, USA Today bestselling author of Dance With the Dragon on The Rogue Warrior: Dictator's Ransom “Marcinko is the real thing: combat veteran, killer SEAL, specialist in unconventional warfare.”-- Washington Times “Marcinko gives new meaning to the word tough .”-- Publishers Weekly “Marcinko’s Rogue Warrior yarns . . . are the purest kind of thriller around, with action, pacing, and hardware galore.”-- Booklist RICHARD MARCINKO is a living, breathing hero honored with the silver star and four bronze stars for valor, along with two Navy Commendation medals and other honors. After serving in Vietnam, he went on to start and command SEAL Team 6, the Navy's anti-terrorist group, and Red Cell, a high-level anti-terrorist unit. Marcinko keeps his hand in the field as the president of a private international security company and now lives in Warrington, Virginia. JIM DEFELICE is the author of many military thrillers and is a frequent collaborator with Stephen Coonts, Larry Bond, and Richard Marcinko. His solo novels include Leopards Kill , Threat Level Black , and My Brother's Keeper . He lives in New York. Chapter one Impressions of North Korea: Cold. Crappy food. Cheap booze. Great place to hunt. Especially if you're with the world's cruelest dictator. Not a good place to be shot, especially by said dictator. But let me start at the beginning . . . It was springtime at Rogue Manor: The snow had melted, the crocuses and whatnot were pushing their pointy buds up through the turf, and there was a lovely scent in the air. Gunpowder, that is. It was the first week of April. Trace Dahlgren had just finished working with some new recruits for Red Cell International-the security company I run with a little help from my friends. Trace had spent the morning running the kids through a makeshift obstacle course on the back forty, trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. This was just a preliminary trial, so we gave them a nugget break-there were only two sections of live-fire exercise involved, and in both cases the shooters were instructed to keep their aim a good six inches from anything moving. Any recruit who stopped, of course, was fair game. "No casualties," said Trace, reporting in at lunchtime. She sounded disappointed. Red Cell is an equal opportunity employer-we hire ex- army as well as ex- SEALs, and I think we even have an old air farcer on the payroll. As a former blanket hugger and a member of the female persuasion herself, Trace Dahlgren gives the company that well- rounded culture the human resources department Richard Marcinko and Jim DeFelice 16 would love to brag about, if we had a HR department. She learned how to break in new recruits while working with Delta Force, the army's counter-terror unit. (If you're a faithful reader-and you sure as hell better be-you'll recall that Trace was a member of Delta's female squadron.2) At five- eight and 130 pounds, Trace has assets male shooters don't, which makes her deadly in the field as well as undercover, both literally and figuratively. Her real love, though,