Deadly Sands

An Intelligence Analyst Thriller

By: Josh Adam

Narrated by: Timothy G Little

The black flags are returning. Sinister and apocalyptic forces are massing in the desert wasteland. Radical soldiers are ready to die. Their goal is to take back what they believe to be theirs.

Mercenaries join the fight. A young American is torn between two worlds. A decorated Navy SEAL fights the same enemy he fought 10 years ago, but this time it’s with a different set of skills in the CIA. An inexperienced intelligence analyst is led down a twisted trail no one wants to believe. Amid tragedy, deception, death, and terror, the Al Baghdadi Brigade achieves much more than any previous attempt.

©2023 Josh Adam (P)2023 Josh Adam

Critic reviews

"Raw, real, and told with the kind of been-there-done-that authenticity you rarely see from writers in the genre today, Deadly Sands is an electrifying debut that starts fast and only gains speed from there...do not miss this book!" (The Real Book Spy, Ryan Steck, author of Lethal Range)

Very entertaining, engrossing and realistic.

A unique story line that goes beyond the common themed military thriller. Deadly Sands brings together a disparate cast of characters from the protagonist intelligence analyst to combat operators to Al Baghdadi brigade adversaries, along with a nice level of character development. This combined with the plot the author spins keeps the listener engaged and wanting to find out what happens next in the plot and to the individuals involved. There’s plenty of technical details that provides insight into an important but somewhat obscure lesser known (among the ABC intelligence agencies) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The scenario laid out in this thriller is frightening and presages the current surprise attack on Israel. Hopefully a sequel will follow as the abrupt ending without complete resolution leaves the listener wanting more. Overall, very entertaining and engrossing with nice narration

Needs a better narrator

The story itself was fairly well done, but the president’s character was too rigid. At points it appeared that the President would give the teams and Israel what they wanted and needed if the next piece of evidence backed the theories that were presented, but that wasn’t how it panned out, she just kept asking for more. It strained credulity and made the character a bit one dimensional. Additionally, the narrator detracted from the story at times. Whether it was stilted narrations, the mispronunciation of words like hummus and the FISA court, the over enunciation of certain words and phrases, or the lack of ability to create unique and believable character voices. Lastly, the abrupt ending in the middle of important events was startling and frankly annoying. I just kept thinking that it would get better and smoother, but it really didn’t. I don’t know that I care enough to buy the next book in the series.