Event

Event by David Golemon

Event Group Thrillers

Praise for E V E N T

'The Roswell Incident--whether legend, fact, or some combination of both--has inspired countless novels and movies over the years, but David Lynn Golemon's Event peels back the layers of Roswell with refreshing originality. The action is spectacularly cinematic, the characters compelling, and the story is a flat- out adrenaline rush that pits real-world, cutting-edge military technology against a literally out-of-this-world threat. Even better, the Event Group itself is one of the best fictional agencies to arise in the literature of government conspiracies.'

--New York Times bestselling authors

Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

'Fans of UFO fiction will find this a great read, and fans of military fiction won't be disappointed either.'

--SFSIGNAL.COM

'Golemon puts his military experience to good use in this promising debut sure to satisfy fans of The X-Files.... the plotting and hair's-breadth escapes evoke some of the early work of Preston and Child, and the author's premise offers a rich lode of material for the inevitable sequels.'

--Publishers Weekly

'Imagine mixing in a blender a Tom Clancy novel with the movie Predator and the television series The X-Files... readers who enjoy nonstop action and lots of flying bullets will enjoy Golemon's first book in a projected series.'

--Library Journal

Dedications

For Eunice and Valisa, Mom and Sis, who are always in my thoughts.

My children, Shaune, Brandon, and Katie, for just believing in me.

For Annemarie, to put it frankly, the woman who saved my life.

And finally for my father, The only real hero I've ever known.

This one's for you, Pop!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As any author will tell you, the process of listing all the kind and generous people who helped or assisted in some way to the actual foundation of any written story can be a daunting task. So it's always best to start at the top.

Heartfelt thanks go first and foremost to Thomas Dunne Books for taking a chance on a strange story from the desert. To Pete Wolverton (the best editor in the business), for guiding a novice novelist through the minefield of the written word. Pete's suggestions added heart to my soul and the end result was magical. To Katie, an assistant editor who patiently dealt with an out-of-control geek and answered every stupid question thrown her way (the publishing world will hear from Katie), and to every one of the editors at Thomas Dunne, who I'm sure thought about a career change right in the middle of editing Event. Now, for my agent, Bob Mecoy, the first believer in this little monster tale, here's to a long 'E' Ticket ride, Bob!

I would like to thank a special man out in San Diego, Dr. Kenneth Vecchio of San Diego State University, for doing something for our boys overseas that not a lot of people think about; the special Abalone shell body armor mentioned in this book is real and on the wish list of this author to get it to the troops soonest! Along those same lines, kudos to Helicos BioSciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who are doing amazing things with their magical DNA sequencing machine, cutting precious time off a long and difficult process of sequencing.

With the exception of the M-2786 radio and the Cray Corporation's Europa XP series computer, all military hardware mentioned in this novel is real and either on the drawing board or in action. Also thanks go to the U.S. Department of Energy, who was very helpful in answering some very unnerving questions.

To the Mathies family of Babylon, New York, for treating a writer like a human being. It will never be forgotten.

For all those people in Roswell, New Mexico, who are tired of the notoriety. Someday it will all pay off, I promise.

And finally to all those people and friends I have failed (forgotten, let's be honest) to mention, thank you. Any mistakes or outright omissions are the author's responsibility.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

During the current times, it's easy for people to take for granted the men and women who are defending this country; right or wrong, opinion versus opinion, they are doing their jobs and doing things well in the most inhospitable conditions that can only be imagined by people who have been in war.

It is not the intention of this author or the publishers of this work to merely make the American military a mere prop in a fictional story. With the highest respect, we attempt to portray them in the highest regard possible. We would never disrespect their ability, their patriotism or their honor for the sake of realism.

But all those soldiers must admit, you would rather be fighting an enemy with a little more class than your current foe--after all, all monsters aren't bad.

PROLOGUE