All content (C) Steve Douglass

The Interceptors Club and the Secret of the Black Manta

A novel in works by Steve Douglass

Plot Synopsis:

Somewhere in the wilds of New Mexico, at a secret air base, they have built the ultimate stealth warplane. It is invisible on radar. It can fly rings around any fighter jet. It can fly above Mach 6 ... and it has just been stolen by a 15-year old boy.

That's the premise behind my novel, The Interceptors Club and the Secret of The Black Manta, a work of fiction, loosely based on my many years of actual experience "stealth chasing" for publications such as Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine, Popular Science and Aircraft Illustrated.

I am one of those "guys in lawn chairs" usually found sitting on a desert mountaintop, overlooking a military base, hoping to catch a glimpse of the latest stealth super-plane that doesn't officially exist.

My 135,000 word thriller is the exciting tale of a rag-tag group of technology-junkies (15 and 16-year old kids) who call themselves the Interceptors Club, lead by Stanley "Static" Dodson, a teenager too smart for his own good.

The Interceptors are military brats who live on an air force base and spend their free-time skulking around and  collecting data on top-secret military programs - just because they can.

Using off-the-shelf surplus technology such as scanning radios, night vision cameras, computers and other eavesdropping devices, this eclectic group of precocious teens discover the existence of a new stealth aircraft that they call the Black Manta, the next generation in stealth technology - hypersonic, extremely agile and light-years beyond anything that has ever flown.

Unfortunately, one day while on a "stealth mission" they are caught trespassing on the test range by Air Force Security.

Colonel Adam Pepper, head of the local military AFOSI (Air Force Office of Special Investigations) offers them a deal. Instead of throwing them in jail and notifying their parents.

He tricks the Interceptors into working for him as his  personal "Tiger Team" putting their Interceptor skills to work, supposedly  looking for other gaps in project security so (as Pepper puts it) "We can identify unforeseen security issues that could put this and future projects at risk."

But unbeknown to the Interceptors, Pepper has his own agenda. He is a double agent, working for his North Korean spy master "Chin" who is desperate to steal the secrets of Manta’s stealth technology to give absolute dictator Kim Joon Il an unstoppable way of delivering a nuclear bomb to America.

With the information provided by the Interceptors Club, Chin steals the Black Manta, but unfortunately for him it is in pieces and he is forced to hide it nearby. He then kidnaps Air Force technicians to put the aircraft back together so he can fly it out of the country.

When the Interceptors Club discover what has happened, they are horrified, suddenly aware they  have been unwitting pawns in Pepper’s plans.

The Interceptors are  torn about what to do. They don't feel they can go to the police (who wouldn't believe them anyway) or anyone on base (who, for all they know could be working for Pepper) so they are forced to call in "The Core" a group of adult Interceptors made up of investigative journalists, technology experts and computer hackers , enlisting their help to locate the Black Manta and steal it back, before it is too late.

The Interceptors Club and the Secret of The Black Manta is a techno-thriller,  aimed at young readers but one I believe adults will find fascinating as well.

It is Tom Clancy meets The Hardy Boys and provides insight into the real "Black World" of spies,covert military technology and political intrigue that exists behind today's headlines.

The novel is a fast-paced and cutting-edge thriller with many twists and turns, but it is also very funny, fresh and thought-provoking.

It's tailor made for today's technology driven generation, but it's not far-fetched or dumbed down. Everything is based on years of actual research and will have the reader asking himself, did this really happen?

But as fun a read as it is, the conclusion, the real mystery behind the secret technology of the Black Manta (once revealed) will leave the reader amazed, shocked and begging for a sequel.

-Steve Douglass

Dear Reader,

I've posted the first few chapters of my book:

"The Interceptors Club and the Secret of the Black Manta at this link -

http://www.webbfeatproductions.com/interceptors.pdf

You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read it.

Keep in mind, it is a project still under construction, so pardon any typos - for now

Enjoy!

Your comments are welcomed.

-Steve Douglass