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In the Twinkling of an Eye: A Novel of Biological Terror and Espionage (2) (The Guild Series) Paperback – July 29, 2022

by James Lawler (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 70 ratings
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"In the Twinkling of an Eye" is a story about espionage, family love, and loyalty, focused on a Russian-North Korean conspiracy to develop a devastating biological weapon for assassination, terror and genocide, as written by a senior CIA operations officer whose career was devoted to battling the spread of weapons of mass destruction. This is the second book in the thrilling Guild Series!

In 1986, a Ukrainian teenager loses his father and his own left eye to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, but he escapes and becomes a top-notch genetics engineer at Moscow State University. There, he is seduced into joining a well-funded new genetics institute where he hopes to develop a genetic solution (better than CRISPR) to cure his twelve-year old daughter's leukemia that is a result of her damaged genes that she inherited from his radiation exposure. But soon he learns that the Institute is actually a coverup run by the Russian intelligence service and is secretly developing advanced genetic bioweapons with the North Koreans for assassination, terror, and genocide. The Ukrainian scientist feels he must remain at the institute, however, in order to find a cure for his dying daughter.

Parallel to this story, a young North Korean girl escapes to South Korea via a North Korean attack tunnel beneath the DMZ. Her father, the North Korean military mining engineer who designed the tunnel, dies during the attempt, and she loses her younger brother with whom she was escaping. She is adopted by a Korean-American US military officer and grows up to be an FBI special agent devoted to battling WMD, who secretly recruits the Ukrainian scientist.

In the course of their work, the FBI agent equips the Ukrainian scientist with a new glass eye with microelectronics on the nano scale that enables him to record covertly everything he sees and hears and transmit his intelligence to her daily through one of his daughter's dolls that has advanced artificial intelligence. It is perfect revenge for a character, who has lost his eye as a teenager, is scarred for life and has lost his beloved father due to Soviet incompetence at Chernobyl. The doll is virtually sentient and is a stand-in for the female FBI agent whom she resembles. In so doing, the agent overcomes the biggest obstacles that spies traditionally face: safely communicating frequently with their case officer for operational guidance and psychological reinforcement and transmitting critical information in a timely fashion.

Together, the scientist and the FBI agent must prevent Russia and North Korea from using the bioweapons for assassination and mass murder of regime opponents.
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  1. Book 2 of 2
    The Guild Series
  2. Print length
    334 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    BookBaby
  5. Publication date
    July 29, 2022
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1667809482
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1667809489
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Lawler serves as a national security consultant and is the Senior Partner at MDO Group, which provides HUMINT training to the Intelligence Community and the commercial sector focused on WMD, CI, technical and cyber issues. Mr. Lawler is a noted speaker on the Insider Threat in government and industry.

Prior to this, Mr. Lawler served for 25 years as a CIA operations officer in various international posts and as Chief of the Counterproliferation Division's Special Activities Unit.

Mr. Lawler was a member of CIA's Senior Intelligence Service (SIS-3) from 1998 until his retirement in 2005. He was a specialist in the recruitment of foreign spies, and he spent well over half of his CIA career battling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As Chief of the A.Q. Khan Nuclear Takedown Team, which resulted in the disruption of the most dangerous nuclear weapons network in history, Mr. Lawler was the recipient of one of the CIA's Trailblazer Awards in 2007, marking the 60th anniversary of CIA. In 2004, former DCI George Tenet sent Mr. Lawler a note which stated, "Jim, what you and your team have achieved will rank up there as one of the most spectacular intelligence accomplishments in the history of the CIA. It occurred because of your exemplary leadership. Not only are we in the process of taking down a network, but we are also in the process of disarming a country as a result of your fine work. With respect, George J. Tenet" And former DDCI John McLaughlin noted that the effort was "the closest thing I've ever seen to a perfect intelligence operation."

Mr. Lawler also received the Director's Award from DCI George Tenet, the U.S. Intelligence Community's HUMINT Collector of the Year Award, and the Donovan Award from the CIA's Deputy Director of Operations.

Prior to his career in intelligence, Mr. Lawler practiced law and was the president of a steel components company in Texas. He is a graduate of Rice University, Houston, Texas, and the University of Texas School of Law. He is married to Ellen and has three children and seven grandsons. He has completed two novels: "Living Lies," an espionage story of the Iranian nuclear weapons program, and "In the Twinkling of an Eye," about recruiting a spy at the heart of a devastating covert Russian-North Korean genetic bioweapons program. Both have been cleared by the CIA's Publication Review Board. "Living Lies" was published in August 2021 and "In the Twinkling of an Eye is to be published in early 2022. He is currently writing his third espionage novel, "The Traitor's Tale," which is about treachery and treason deep within the CIA.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ BookBaby (July 29, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 334 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1667809482
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1667809489
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.18 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 70 ratings

About the author

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James Lawler

James Lawler

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James Lawler served for 25 years as a CIA operations officer in various international posts and was a member of CIA's Senior Intelligence Service (SIS-3) from 1998 until retirement in 2005. He was a specialist in the recruitment of foreign spies, and he spent well over half of his CIA career battling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As Chief of the A.Q. Khan Nuclear Takedown Team, which resulted in the disruption of the most dangerous nuclear weapons network in history, Mr. Lawler was the recipient of one of the CIA's Trailblazer Awards in 2007, marking the 60th anniversary of CIA. DCI George Tenet sent Mr. Lawler a note which stated, “Jim, what you and your team have achieved will rank up there as one of the most spectacular intelligence accomplishments in the history of the CIA." Former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin noted that the effort was “the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a perfect intelligence operation.”

Mr. Lawler also received the Director's Award from DCI Tenet, the U.S. Intelligence Community's HUMINT Collector of the Year Award, and the Donovan Award from the CIA's Deputy Director of Operations.

Prior to his career in intelligence, Mr. Lawler was a graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law. He has completed two novels: “Living Lies,” an espionage story of the Iranian nuclear weapons program, and “In the Twinkling of an Eye,” about a devastating covert Russian-North Korean genetic bioweapons program. Both have been cleared by the CIA’s Publication Review Board. He is currently writing his third espionage novel, “The Traitor’s Tale,” about treachery and treason deep within the CIA.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
70 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

RAB, CIA Clandestine Service (Ret)
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wake-up Call for the Democracies
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2023
Verified Purchase
In this remarkable work of fiction set in the present, Jim Lawler tells a compelling and often frightening story of totalitarian despots perverting Western achievements in artificial intelligence and genetic engineering for their own murderous ends. It should be taken as a wake-up call by all democracies. The Russian president has drafted his top scientists to create biological terror weapons that attack, edit and destroy the human genome. He re-activates a KGB general to take command of the secret project and draw up a hit list of defectors and enemies abroad, naming individuals for immediate liquidation who frustrated some of his past covert actions. He also brings the North Koreans into the cabal to supply prison inmates as test dummies in exchange for use of the weapons in mass annihilation of their undesirables.

Twinkling opens with gripping narratives of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster that killed many thousands of Russians and a shoot out in a North Korean tunnel running under the DMZ into the South. We see the harshness of life in the dictatorships where nevertheless some families impart moral consciousness in their children. Decades later the separate lives of two survivors intertwine , one an honest Russian scientist unwittingly involved in the secret terror program and the other a beautiful FBI Special Agent of North Korean birth leading the American counterattack to stop it. Fast-paced action jumps back and forth from Moscow to Texas and Washington DC, London, Singapore and Zurich. A GRU defector and his son, and a North Korean security chief who escaped to the West are first victims of the new terror. Complexity of the plot increases with more well drawn characters on both sides playing out ordained roles in the struggle.

Lawler’s overall theme in Twinkling, as in his earlier novel Living Lies, is the essential amorality and evil of totalitarian leaders projecting violence abroad and terrorizing citizens at home without any qualms. He brings the threat of biological terror into sharp focus and raises the possible horror of its massive use in general warfare. As I finished the book, I found its import to be genuinely scary. However, at least for now, evil plots are thwarted and the good guys win. In a comical epilogue the North Korean great leader is transformed seemingly miraculously into a guitar-strumming singer surrounded by his amazed but still dutifully attentive staff anxiously clapping and scribbling notes in their pads.
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Ryan T. Rambo
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Espionage STory
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024
Verified Purchase
Just finished reading James Lawler's second novel, "In the Twinkling of an Eye". It was a fantastic read! Jim is an excellent storyteller who masterfully develops characters while weaving their stories together throughout the book.

However, the biological threat he writes about is terrifying and something that we should all be concerned about, especially when combined with advances in artificial intelligence. This should be a wake-up call to policymakers and #intelligence and #counterintelligence professionals.

I highly recommend reading this book, especially for those interested in insider threat, insider risk, intelligence, and counterintelligence.
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Connie Milne
4.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Good Read…
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2023
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Like his first book “Living Lies”, an entertaining and realistic read … looking forward to number three “The Traitor’s Tale”.
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Jess Larsen
5.0 out of 5 stars High intensity story, and deep insights into human nature and the pressures of intelligence work.
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
The book is super entertaining and had me sucked into the story and how they were going to pull it all off.

Personally, my favorite parts though were the way he so realistically describes what it must feel like for the case officer and their agent.

I love both non-fiction and fiction espionage books but no other book has ever given such a “you were there” effect for the kind of pressure the main source goes through when it feels like the walls are closing in.

Being an entrepreneur I have many times been facing the unknown and had gut-wrenching anxiety over losing large investments and sometimes crashing an entire company, but never the life and death situations in the book. It gave me a new appreciation for what it takes for a source to keep it together under so much pressure and also for a case officer/operations officer who has to try to help them and coach them but can’t personally show up and make things better.

I think it was also an insight only available from an Author who actually spent decades of their life doing this work. Just like his last book, which I loved, “Living Lies”, there is a sign of authenticity that's hard for me to put my finger on.

While there are fantastical elements that make the book the kind of thing film studios probably want to buy, it’s the little things that set it apart to me.

I think there are so many things that “traditional “ espionage novelists wouldn’t have put in because they are too convenient or random or not dramatic enough, and to me what it feels like is that saying about “real life being stranger than fiction”.

Which is funny since it is fiction, but a refreshingly different kind than overused and predictable tropes that can often have books feeling like 10 others you’ve already read.

If you can’t tell I’m a fan and think you should buy this book!
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John
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Spy Story
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2022
Verified Purchase
James Lawler has written another great spy thriller in his In the Twinkling of an Eye. Taking place in Europe, Asia, and the US, his book has all the great attributes of the classic spy novel--a great storyline, adversaries who have no hesitation in carrying out nefarious acts, high-minded individuals who take on the adversaries at great risk to themselves and, of course, amazing technologies. It is a very satisfying read and I hope it will become a movie....

The novel is also valuable because it reminds us that there are heroes in this world, people who are willing to take great risks to themselves and their families in order to do the right thing. In our post-modern age where acclaim seems to accrue to those who make their life mission attacking others, there seem to be few heroes left among us. Although fiction, Lawler's book is consistent with my almost 70 years of observation that there are many heroes among us, especially among civil servants and those serving in the national security area, who have the physical and moral courage to do the right thing when faced with a difficult situation. It is this characteristic of this book that I find most satisfying.

Read In the Twinkling of an Eye--you will enjoy it.
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Top reviews from other countries

Vitaly
3.0 out of 5 stars Dislike
Reviewed in Canada on September 11, 2022
Verified Purchase
I’d like you to read this short book and dislike it as I did.. I bought it by mistake and it was a bad one :)
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