Military Thrillers & Vigilante Justice
Michael Colton, USMC Ret. series
by Cliff Mansfield
The following short story, A Very Dangerous Man, was written by Cliff Mansfield and produced by Raventhorne Books to introduce you to his new: Michael Colton USMC Retired, a military adventure/thriller series. There are no strings attached. It's available freely in audio and PDF. If you like it, share it with your friends. You'll find six more full-length stories by Cliff below, and more in the works.
Michael Colton USMC, Ret.
Becoming A Very Dangerous Man
Click any picture for all book formats at Amazon
Captain Michael Colton, USMC Retired, carried some serious baggage home with him from the sandbox.
He hung on as long as he could before plunging into darkness and despair, but just before it was too late, an unlikely angel pulled him back from the brink…
When some of Portland, Oregon’s most notorious gangbangers, who thought themselves untouchable, suddenly snatched her out of his life—they found themselves face-to-face with a brutal, violent, nightmare of a man with no reason to live—except Vengeance!
One stormy fall night, Steve Garvey, an old friend, found Colton in a dive bar called The Devil’s Roost. Colton was busy teaching hand-to-hand combat lessons to some less-than-worthy adversaries.
Garvey needed some highly talented muscle and offered Colton a job helping him catch child kidnappers, traffickers, and pedophiles. Given his tortured past, Colton saw the job as a gift from heaven. One he could enthusiastically get behind.
Along the way, they acquired a new furry partner. Meet Dog!
From the remote Sierra Nevada mountains to the N.W. Hills of Portland, home to the city’s affluent elites, the trio was determined to press on. Not even the legendary ghost of a long-dead Indian Shaman could deter them.
When Colton, badly injured and in the hospital after the death of his wife (in book 1), had been at his most vulnerable and enemies came for him there, they were met face-to-face with the unstoppable brute force of Sergeant Cletus Renfro instead.
Forward in time, Marine Captains Michael Colton and Steve Garvey's chance meeting with Army Captain Adrian Wulff (from Adrian Wulff, P.I. book 1) at a mutual friend’s funeral marked the beginning of another powerful friendship.
Later, in Portland, Oregon, Colton got a call one morning from Jesse, a friend from the Patriot Defenders’ compound at Coal Mountain, Montana, who simply said, “Cletus has been kidnapped.”
“By who?”
“Looks like some Islamic terrorists took over the Shining Light religious compound to the north of us.”
Within minutes, Colton and Garvey had packed what they needed in the van, and they and Dog, determined to free Renfro at all costs, were on the road and headed directly into one of the most violent wars on American soil that nobody ever heard about!
You can’t miss this one!
From the mean streets of Portland, Oregon, to the steaming jungles of Guatemala, nothing will stop Michael Colton from bringing cop killer Paiyaso Garcia to justice. Not even a confrontation with FAR rebels.
With the help of an Air Force Pararescueman, Osvaldo Perez, Paiyaso is spirited out of the rebel stronghold and loaded into Perez's small plane. But leaving the airport was difficult.
After a harrowing escape in a shot-up Cessna T210, flying at night through steep canyons to avoid radar and buffeted by the fury of a hurricane, the men reach Veracruz, Mexico, where a jet waits to transport Colton and Paiyaso to Portland.
But things are not over yet. Portland's weak criminal justice system once again fails her citizens and allows Paiyaso bail.
Set on vengeance, the criminal goes after Colton's employer, Adrian Wulff, and kidnaps his girlfriend, Karen. In the explosive conclusion, Paiyaso learns why you don't trifle with Marines and a Hunter/Killer K-9 named Dog.
Colton and his team are on a mission to rescue a friend who has been captured by FAR rebels in the jungle-covered mountains of Guatemala, near Huehuetenango, an area rich in Mayan history.
With assistance from the NSA and CIA, the team searches for the rebels, exploring sites from the pyramids of Zaculeu to an abandoned air base that has become the rebels' new stronghold. Throughout their mission, Colton and his team encounter danger at every turn, facing not only human adversaries but also the perils of the jungle itself.
When they finally locate the rebels, they are confronted with a level of depravity that even the experienced combat veteran, Captain Michael Colton, finds shocking.
Adrian Wulff, P.I. series
by Cliff Mansfield
Related to, and preceding the Michael Colton, USMC Ret. series. You'll want to read this, too, if you haven't yet. Wulff becomes Colton's buddy, and partner in 'things' later. This explains a bit about Wulff's background.
When Adrian Wulff’s mentor and new partner, Scott Porter of Porter Investigations, goes missing, the freshman detective is forced to take over the case Porter had been working on.
Trucking magnate David Ansel is convinced that someone is stealing from him. He wants Wulff to find out who—but nothing’s ever simple. Hulking bikers and crazy gang bangers all take runs at Wulff as he works to solve his first case as a fledgling detective.
If you like gritty action, plenty of twists and turns, and enjoy a good mystery, this book is definitely for you. You’re going to love the world Cliff Mansfield is writing Wulff into. This is the first of many.