The first time I read Strong as Steel myself, as you just did, I found I couldn’t put it down. It’s been a long time since I opened a book with such an extended action scene, and I also liked the fact that Caitlin and Cort Wesley were pursuing the same thing along different tracks, as opposed to pursuing different things that happen to converge. The journey was different and, in this case, the destination also allowed me to have Caitlin and Cort Wesley (along with Guillermo Paz, of course) together in the end for a single climactic battle, instead of separating them amid multiple ones.
Did I pull all of that off? That’s for you to judge. Writing a series that has now reached its tenth book reminds me of something Sam Goldwyn is purported to have said when he was asked what he was looking for in his next film: “Give me the same thing, only different.”
Well, I try to give every Caitlin Strong book enough of the same thing, while making each one just different and distinct enough from all the others. Managing that task for ten books, though, only means I have to accomplish it again in the eleventh. I’m considering Strong from the Heart as a title. Same thing, only different.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but let’s start at the top with CEO Tom Doherty and Forge’s publisher Linda Quinton, dear friends who publish books “the way they should be published,” to quote my late agent, the legendary Toni Mendez. The great Bob Gleason, Karen Lovell, Elayne Becker, Patty Garcia, and especially Natalia Aponte are there for me at every turn. Natalia’s a brilliant editor and friend who outdid herself in these pages, as always. Editing may be a lost art, but not here thanks to both Natalia and Bob Gleason, and I think you’ll enjoy all of my books, including this one, much more as a result.
My friend Mike Blakely, a terrific writer and musician, taught me Texas firsthand and helped me think like a native of that great State. And Larry Thompson, a terrific writer in his own right, has joined the team as well to make sure I do justice to his home state, along with his son-in-law and soon-to-be Texas Ranger himself. And special acknowledgments to Bill Miller who helped me smooth out the geography of the Lone Star State, and “Steeldust” Jack Briggs for his expertise with all things firearm-related. Thanks, again, to Terry Ayers for making my scientific jargon sound at least somewhat credible, along with infectious disease expert Dr. Melanie Palmore, who I so miss seeing at Brown University football tailgates.
Check back at www.jonlandbooks.com for updates or to drop me a line, and please follow me on Twitter @jondland. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank all of you who’ve already written, Tweeted, or emailed me your thoughts on any or all of the first nine books in the Caitlin Strong series. You are truly the wind beneath this particular author’s wings and I genuinely hope you enjoyed number ten as much as the others.
OTHER BOOKS BY JON LAND
The Alpha Deception
*Betrayal (nonfiction)
*Black Scorpion: The Tyrant Reborn
*Blood Diamonds
*The Blue Widows
The Council of Ten
*Dark Light: Dawn
*Day of the Delphi
*Dead Simple
*Dolphin Key
The Doomsday Spiral
The Eighth Trumpet
*The Fires of Midnight
The Gamma Option
*Hope Mountain
*Keepers of the Gate
*Kingdom of the Seven
Labyrinth
*The Last Prophecy
The Lucifer Directive
The Ninth Dominion
The Omega Command
The Omicron Legion
Pandora’s Temple
*The Pillars of Solomon
The Rising
*The Seven Sins: The Tyrant Ascending
*Strong at the Break
*Strong Cold Dead
*Strong Darkness
*Strong Enough to Die
*Strong Justice
*Strong Light of Day
*Strong Rain Falling
*Strong to the Bone
*Strong Vengeance
*Takedown (nonfiction)
The Tenth Circle
The Valhalla Testament
The Vengeance of the Tau Vortex
*A Walk in the Darkness
*The Walls of Jericho
*Published by Forge Books
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JON LAND is the USA Today bestselling author of forty-four novels, including Strong Enough to Die, Strong Justice, Strong at the Break, Strong Vengeance, Strong Rain Falling (winner of the 2014 International Book Award and 2013 USA Books Best Book Award for Mystery-Suspense), Strong Darkness (finalist for the 2014 USA Books Best Book Award and the 2015 International Book Award for Thrillers), Strong Light of Day (winner of the 2016 Beverly Hills Book Award for Best Mystery), and Strong Cold Dead (winner of the 2017 International Book Award for Best Action Thriller). Land is a graduate of Brown University, lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and can be found at www.jonlandbooks.com or on Twitter at @JonDLand or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
Port of Ordu, Turkey; 1959
Mexico City, Mexico; 1964
Fort Stockton, Texas; 1994
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part Two
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Part Three
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Part Four
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Part Five
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Part Six
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Part Seven
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Part Eight
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
&nbs
p; Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Part Nine
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Part Ten
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Other Books by Jon Land
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
STRONG AS STEEL
Copyright © 2019 by Jon Land
All rights reserved.
Cover photographs by Zhang Yang 13576997233 / Shutterstock.com (train station) Stephen Carroll / Trevillion Images (woman) sumstock / Shutterstock.com (fence)
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Land, Jon, author.|Land, Jon. Caitlin Strong novel.
Title: Strong as steel / Jon Land.
Description: First Edition.|New York: Forge Book, 2019.|Series: Caitlin Strong novel|“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2018048355|ISBN 9780765384676 (hardcover)|ISBN 9780765384690 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Texas Rangers—Fiction.|GSAFD: Suspense fiction.|Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3562.A469 S75 2019|DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018048355
eISBN 9780765384690
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First Edition: April 2019