Dead Signal

By: Chaddrick Gaines

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Dead Signal

A Cole Mercer Thriller

Cole Mercer planned to spend one quiet night in Washington, D.C.

Instead, he walks into a citywide lockdown.

What begins as a routine bomb scare inside a federal office building spirals into something far worse—a confirmed nuclear threat buried beneath the capital. Bridges close. Metro shuts down. Armed checkpoints seal the perimeter. And somewhere under the streets, a device is counting down.

While federal agencies scramble and panic spreads, Mercer sees what others miss: a subcontractor that doesn’t exist, a service van that leaves too soon, and shielding materials meant for something far heavier than HVAC repair.

The bomb isn’t the whole plan.

It’s leverage.

Working alone inside a locked city, Mercer tracks the threat through underground service tunnels and power junctions, where a professionally built nuclear device sits armed and waiting. But stopping the countdown is only the first step. The real objective is unfolding elsewhere—and the man behind it has already planned his escape.

With time running out and no badge to protect him, Mercer must dismantle the device, unravel a coordinated data breach, and stop a final extraction attempt before classified vulnerabilities are sold to the highest bidder.

No speeches. No politics. Just a job that has to be finished.

Perfect for fans of Jack Reacher–style action thrillers, Dead Signal delivers tight pacing, grounded realism, and a lone operator who doesn’t miss the details that matter.