The U.S. Pershing II and Soviet SS-20 missiles on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., were once at the center of the Cold War chess match that underpins Tom Davis’ suspenseful new book, Empty Quiver. Set against a backdrop of historical figures and actual events, Empty Quiver brings history to life with a riveting tale that reimagines what might have happened behind the scenes as Cold War tensions escalated.

Davis brings back NSC staffer Carter Cardwell and CIA Analyst Katherine O’Connor, whom readers will remember from his previous book, Conclave. Empty Quiver begins in 1983, as the Soviet Union deploys its new SS-20 missile, and the U.S. counters by developing and stationing its new Pershing II missile in West Germany. But many Germans are opposed to having the new weapons on their soil, a resistance the Soviet KGB decides to exploit, no matter who they must team with to halt the U.S. deployment.

In Washington, Carter is sent to find out what forces are at work and what the KGB is up to. He brings with him Katherine, an expert on the Soviet Union with whom he has a personal relationship. Meanwhile, the KGB decides upon a risky and complicated approach to broaden German opposition against the arrival of the new Pershings. The KGB chief responsible for Western Europe, Dimitry Zhukov, takes personal charge of the Soviet effort.

Carter, Katherine and Dimitry have confronted each other before, but now find they must work together before a nuclear confrontation spins out of control. Both sides must confront dark forces from the past in order to create the conditions for a more peaceful future. Will they succeed? Or will nuclear terrorists upset the nuclear balance?

Davis himself once guarded nuclear storage sites in Europe during the Cold War, and he draws upon his experiences to inform his narrative. “The incident with the ‘rabbit hunter’ described in Chapter 5 actually occurred — to me — while the officer of the guard at one such site,” he said. “Fortunately, it was an innocent event that ended with none of the sinister implications described in the book.”

Author Tom Davis is a retired Army officer and senior corporate executive. He holds an undergraduate degree from West Point and a graduate degree from Harvard. He spent 25 years in the Army and then another 16 years in the corporate world. He has written numerous articles on politics and international relations, and a nonfiction assessment of the 1982 Israeli incursion into Lebanon titled 40 Kilometers Into Lebanon. His first novel, Conclave, was a historical novel about the election to the papacy of John Paul II.

“I’m an old Cold Warrior who spent many years in Germany guarding the Fulda Gap and was there when the wall came down and Germany re-united in 1991,” Davis added. “Back then, the U.S. and Soviet Union under General Secretary Gorbachev learned the benefits of cooperation. Those days are unfortunately behind us. We are now entering a new Cold War, and I am seriously concerned about the dangerous directions it might travel.”

For more information, please visit https://tomdavisauthor.com/, or follow the author on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000901572680.

Empty Quiver

Publisher: Punaro Press

ISBN-13: ‎979-8789110546

Available from Amazon.com