Three thrillers by Terrence Poppa
A prescient novel about Iran-backed terror
RELEASED JULY 2024 — CAULDRON OF WRATH
Iran backed Hezbollah terrorists smuggle two nukes into the United States through a Mexican drug tunnel in a bold plot to obliterate half of the United States. As world attention is riveted on the fiery destruction they aim to bring to downtown Los Angeles with the first bomb, the terrorists intend to detonate the second nuke at the bottom of an experimental NASA geothermal well located in a remote corner of Yellowstone National Park. The nuclear blast will rip open Yellowstone’s sizzling caldera, causing a massive eruption that will bring America to its knees. All that stands in the way of this hellish plan is the determination of a rogue FBI agent, the resourcefulness and spunk of a NASA spokeswoman, and the brave resistance of a crew of drilling rig workers.
In addition to Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin, Poppa authored two books about Islam, one of them a comprehensive biography of Muhammad, giving him insights for the chillingly realistic portrayals of the dogma-obsessed fanatics of Cauldron of Wrath.
RELEASED AUGUST 2024: FINDING RICKY
An intense psychological thriller
Cowboy, an undercover agent famed for taking out major bad guys, carries a heavy burden of guilt that his 13-year-old son Ricky is a runaway living in the mean streets of the south side of town. He is obsessed with rescuing him, but to do so he must first rescue himself by facing the truth about how the boy ended up immersed in the very world he had devoted himself to destroying.
Cowboy is given the opportunity to enter a special program to deal with declining professional performance stemming from his son’s plight. Ostensibly, he is tasked with taking out two high level bad guys, but he discovers that he is in fact the real target. He is under the direction of a mysterious supervisor known only as the Soup, who is never seen but is only heard on an unusual communication device. The Soup forces Cowboy to examine the painful experiences that shaped his life and finally to deal with the truth about his role in bringing about the fate of Ricky. The revelations that emerge are mirrored by his undercover assignment that targets Awesome and Scorpion, two dangerous traffickers, adding relevant momentum to the narrative. After a series of shattering experiences that lead to healing, Cowboy is set on a course to repair the lives of him and his son.
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2024: GRAY WRATH
”Vivid, fast paced, and imaginative.” –David Brin
The human race is about to be destroyed by the Breeder Grays and replaced by millions of hybrids they have created. The weapon of destruction: an enormous asteroid the aliens have diverted to strike Earth. Only Michael Kendon—a renegade assassin and sole survivor of a crushed resistance movement—can keep it from happening.
Kendon has only three days to locate a powerful weapon designed to deflect the asteroid, a gravity-beam device fueled by the same exotic element that propels the Breeder spacecraft. But to find the weapon, he must first gain the loyalty of a woman whose father—the creator of the weapon—he was forced to kill.
During their heart-pounding quest, Kendon’s lethal skills keep him and Laura Meller alive and on the move, but his extraordinary mental abilities prove the most bedeviling to the Breeders and their human collaborators. Gray Wrath is a warp-speed journey into the heart of universe darkness, and it is an unforgettable tale of human survival and personal redemption.