EX nihilo nihil fit. For this novel, I began with the advantage of notes accumulated for the previous books about Navy and joint operations; see The Crisis, The Towers, The Cruiser, and Tipping Point.
The following new sources were also helpful. For Aisha’s chapters: A Q&A–type backgrounder with agents from the NCIS Hampton Roads office. Discussion of profiling from the FBI study “The Criminal Behavior of the Serial Rapist,” by Robert R. Hazelwood and Janet Warren. Also “Profiling Rapists” in the blog Forensic Talk. Abandon-ship instructions from OPNAVINST 5100.19E. For MEJA and CEJA, CRS “Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act: Federal Contractor Criminal Liability Overseas,” by Charles Doyle, 2012.
For Blair’s chapters: Information on SAIC from their Web site. Classification and security info from DoD Manual 5200.01-V3. Mau VanDuren contributed advice on campaign strategy. For Senate procedures, Elizabeth Rybicki, Voting and Quorum Procedures in the Senate, Congressional Research Service, 2013, and Valerie Heitshusen, Senate Committee Hearings: Preparation, CRS, 2015. On Operation Causeway, Maj. Robert B. Sheeks, USMCR (Ret.), in the China News, August 10, 1997.
For Teddy and Echo Platoon: “Carlson’s Raid on Makin Island,” by Col. David W. Haughey, USMC (Ret.), in August 2001 Marine Corps Gazette. Also Gordon Rottman’s Carlson’s Marine Raiders, Osprey, 2014. Institute for Defense Studies, “Yongxing Island: China’s Diego Garcia in the South China Sea?” by Sarabjeet Singh Parmar, August 7, 2012. “I Know Waterboarding Is Torture” by Malcolm Nance, Daily News, October 31, 2007. For prisoner experience: The Great Wall of Confinement, by Williams and Wu.
Weapons, sensor, and operational details are either from open sources or are made up. Especially helpful were Dr. Carlos Kopp, “Defeating Cruise Missiles,” Australian Aviation, October 2004. Also “Soviet/Russian Cruise Missiles,” same author, August 2009, and Air Power Australia’s “Soviet Maritime Reconnaissance, Targeting, Strike and Electronic Combat Aircraft,” by Dr. Kopp, 2012. For sonobuoy placement, “On the Design of Multistatic Sonobuoy Fields for Area Search,” by S. Ozols and M. P. Fewell, Australian government document. Discussion of ABM geometry: Gerald Brown et al., “A Two-Sided Optimization for Theater Missile Defense,” Operations Research, September–October 2005. Info on Japanese marines from “Japan’s Amphibious Buildup,” by Kyle Mizokami, US Naval Institute News, October 9, 2013. On Chinese TBMs: “PLA Ballistic Missiles,” Technical Report APA-TR-2010-0802, Sean O’Connor, 2009, Air Power Australia Site for fuel specifications. Joseph Sermarini, “The Universal Fuel at Sea,” Naval Postgraduate School thesis, June 2000. EXTAC 1000, “Maritime Maneuvering and Tactical Procedures” (unclassified) was useful for command relationships and maneuvering. For background on operating areas: “Physical Oceanography of the Yellow and East China Sea” by Dr. Steven R. Ramp, Naval Postgraduate School. About River City: “Limited Online Access Stresses Sailors at Sea,” Navy Times, April 15, 2012, by Joshua Stewart. For EW: U.S. Naval Academy, Weapons and Engineering Department, Fundamentals of Naval Weapons Systems, public information released by Raytheon, and NSWC Crane Electronic Warfare Center, “EW Maritime Fact Sheet,” accessed March 2015.
Thoughtful discussions of how wars start, and how the United States typically responds, are found in The Father of Us All by Victor Davis Hanson, and America’s First Battles, edited by Heller and Stofft.
Many sources have discussed a possible conflict with China. Among those I read were:
The Brookings Institution, “China’s Growing Strength, Taiwan’s Diminishing Options,” by Yuan-kang Wang, November 2010.
RAND Corporation, A Question of Balance: Political Context and Military Aspects of the China-Taiwan Dispute, by David A. Shlapak et al., 2009.
The Diplomat: “Taiwan, Asia’s Secret Air Power,” by Ian Easton, September 25, 2014.
William S. Murry, “Revisiting Taiwan’s Defense Strategy,” Naval War College Review, Summer 2008, vol. 61, no. 3.
Office of the Secretary of Defense Annual Report to Congress, “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2014,” April 24, 2014.
F. Scott Hume, “Study of the Ability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct an Invasion of Taiwan,” School of Advanced Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 2000.
Dennis Blasko, “PLA Amphibious Capabilities: Structured for Deterrence,” China Brief 17, August 19, 2010.
For overall help, thanks to Charle Ricci and Stacia Childers of the Eastern Shore Public Library; Matthew Stroup of the Navy Office of Information, East; James DiAngio, N01P1, Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic; and Paul O’Donnell, NCIS.
A deep bow to Mark “Dusty” Durstewitz, John Gibson, Anthony Ruta, and Bill Hunteman, who put in many hours commenting in detail. Others both retired and still on active duty supplied invaluable perspective. If I inadvertently left anyone out, my apologies!
Let me emphasize that these sources were consulted for the purposes of fiction. Likewise, the specifics of personalities, tactics, and procedures, and the units and locales described, are employed as the materials of story, not reportage. Some details have been altered to protect classified capabilities and procedures.
My deepest gratitude goes to George Witte, editor and friend of over three decades, without whom this series would not exist. And Sally Richardson, Ken Silver, Sara Thwaite, Naia Poyer, Adam Goldberger, and Anya Lichtenstein at St. Martin’s Press. And finally to Lenore Hart, best friend, anchor on lee shores, and my North Star when skies are clear.
As always, all errors and deficiencies are my own.