Al is thrilled to announce that Amphorae Publishing will release his new novel in April, 2026
BODY MAN
A Political Thriller Set in Divided America
BODY MAN is a character-driven political/psychological thriller that takes a cold look at the hot mess of America today and shows how much worse things could get if we let them.
You’ll meet Spencer, close personal aide, or Body Man, to a senator who catapults to the presidency on a strong gun control platform, and Carl, a Body Man of a different kind—a marine corps sniper with a bad conduct discharge who gets drawn into the militia movement and recruited to assassinate the new president. When the attempt goes horribly wrong, the president launches a war against the militias, sparking nationwide riots and mutinies in the military. As the president spirals into depression, Spencer takes on more responsibility and power than a Body Man ever should.
In BODY MAN, you’ll go inside the Alt-Right movement, the White House, and a Marine Corps unit in combat; you’ll experience riots in the streets, insurrection in the military, and desperate last stands mirrored in the president’s private study and a remote cabin in the northern woods. By the end, one of them—the president, the marine, or the Body Man—is a national hero. Which one, will depend on your point of view.
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Tiananmen Square 35th Anniversary
Al Talks About His Experiences in This Video by VOA’s Chinese Service
(With English Subtitles and Al in English)
Al’s Sun Sentinel OpEd on the Gaza War
Click to read more.
SHOCK WAVE Wins Gold at Royal Palm Literary Awards
Book Three of the Task Force Epsilon series won the Gold Medal in the Thriller Category at the 2022 Royal Palm Literary Awards on October 28th. It was a “thrill” to be there at Florida WritersCon in Orlando with friends and fellow-winners Daphne Nikolopoulos and Elaine Viets.
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!
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SHOCK WAVE is “thrilling…thoughtful...well-written page-turner.”
Click to Read the Review and an interview with Al.
Bookstore Review of
Shock Wave!
Review by M.C.V. Egan
Task Force Epsilon Book Two has won a Silver Medal in the Popular Fiction category of the 2021 Florida Book Awards. Copies will be placed in the permanent collections at the Florida Governor’s Mansion and Florida State University. This comes in addition to the Silver Medal Blowback won at the 2021 Royal Palm Literary Awards—my fifth RPLA overall. Also, Sandblast won a 2021 President’s Award from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. My thanks to all the organizers and judges!
When was the last time you stayed up all night because you could not put a page-turner thriller down? Shock Wave, by Al Pessin was my first all-nighter in a very long time, in years, actually. The reader hangover the next day was well worth it.
The third Task Force Epsilon Thriller, explores the intricacies of covert espionage in the Middle East from a variety of perspectives. A story line with an array of American, Israeli, and Arabic characters.
The heroes are damaged enough to make them relatable, human. The villains' convictions are conveyed by brilliant writing so that their humanity makes their despicable actions comprehensible, although horrifying and unacceptable.
The main characters drew me in as a reader with their moods, experiences, and at times reluctance to be heroic. Male and Female characters alike had a most believable depth and responses to the plot lines.
The plot and subplots and the primary and secondary characters are expertly woven in an intricate and sophisticated manner. Each one has an elaborate background, conveying volumes through beautifully crafted succinct sentences.
The unexpected twists are clever and surprising, and the novel has them to the very last pages. The backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is informative and not preachy; it is refreshing how the story line, while addressing brutal acts of terrorism, also conveys vulnerabilities and doubts to some of the villains. The puppet masters tugging at their strings even in their absence make a huge presence.
The story is plot-driven and enhanced by setting and characters, a well-rounded and absolutely exceptional novel.
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Read and Watch some of my Ukraine coverage from 2014/2015.
My experiences covering the Afghan war were the inspiration for Sandblast.
With producer Masha Kucher near the front in eastern Ukraine.
Authors say SHOCK WAVE is
“One of the best reads of the year.”
“Action, intrigue, and adventure…high-octane…timely…explosive…authentic...Strap yourself in!”
BLOWBACK Wins Florida Book Award
Click for the announcement.
I’m now blogging for the Florida Writers Association.
Check out my posts by clicking here or on the image above.
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Authors on SANDBLAST:
“Thrills and chaos.” “Utterly compelling.” “Tense, believable, relevant.”
“A cautionary tale for our times.”
“High emotional content.” “Precise and devastating.” “A taut action thriller.” “Authentic and knowing voice.”
“I felt like I was there. You won’t be able to put it down.”
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Authors on BLOWBACK:
“Al Pessin is the new Tom Clancy.”
“Blistering and bracing.”
“A thinking man's (or woman's!) thriller.”
“Scarily prescient, realistic and top-notch.”
“Heart-thumping, action-packed”
“Original, gripping and timely.”
Al Pessin is the author of the Task Force Epsilon thriller series from Kensington Publishing Corp, SANDBLAST, BLOWBACK and SHOCK WAVE. The books grew out of Al’s experiences as a journalist covering foreign policy and national security for nearly forty years. SANDBLAST won a President’s Award from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association in 2021 and was a top-five selection for Unpublished Book of the Year at the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. It was also shortlisted for the 2017 Bosque Fiction Prize. BLOWBACK won Silver Medals at the 2021 Florida Book Awards and at the RPLAs. Al also wrote MURDER AT THE BUTCHER’S, a murder-mystery farce that played to four sold our houses in its premiere run in 2019. MURDER AT THE BUTCHER’S was the RPLA Best Play that year. Read more on the About Al page.