PTD
ALSO BY P. T. DEUTERMANN
THE CAM RICHTER NOVELS
The Cat Dancers
Spider Mountain
The Moonpool
Nightwalkers
THRILLERS
Red Swan
Cold Frame
The Last Man
The Firefly
Darkside
Hunting Season
Train Man
Zero Option
Sweepers
Official Privilege
SEA STORIES
The Iceman
The Commodore
Sentinels of Fire
Ghosts of Bungo Suido
Pacific Glory
Scorpion in the Sea
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P. T. Deutermann is the noted author of many previous novels based on his experiences in Washington as a senior staff officer and at sea as a navy captain and, later, commodore. His WWII novels include Pacific Glory, which won the W. Y. Boyd Award for Excellence in Military Fiction, Sentinels of Fire, The Commodore, Ghosts of Bungo Suido, and The Iceman. He lives with his wife of fifty years in North Carolina. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Author’s Note
Also by P. T. Deutermann
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.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE NUGGET. Copyright © 2019 by P. T. Deutermann. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Young Jin Lim
Cover illustration by Steve Gardner: tail gunner and bomb courtesy Charles Burcher, CAF Dixie Wing; Douglas Dauntless © Anthony Sell / Dreamstime.com; explosions © Michal Zduniak /Shutterstock.com; white explosion © piyaphong/Shutterstock.com; water © Dudarev Mikhail /Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-20588-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-20589-6 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250205896
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: November 2019