First Instinct

They have the money, the training, and the connections to go anywhere. What they don't have is a target-or time.

The man waiting inside the U.S. embassy in Kabul has blood on his hand and a story people are willing to kill to keep secret.

For CIA operative Ethan Cole and his longtime partner, Mara Voss, his warning is only the beginning. An Omani extremist faction has purchased a chemical weapon from a former KGB broker. Its cell in Malaysia keeps the cargo moving, protected by fighters with Russian special operations training. Somewhere, an attack is being prepared.

Before Ethan and Mara can stop it, they have to prove it exists.

From Muscat and Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul and Dubai, they chase fragments of intelligence through forged records, reluctant witnesses, and violent ambushes. Every answer exposes another lie. Every delay gives the terrorists room to disappear.

The trail leads toward a powerful sheikh whose dealings with the West have made him a target. He has a fortified tower, an elite security team, and complete confidence in both.

Ethan and Mara have evidence that neither will be enough.

A former Ranger and Special Forces soldier, Ethan is quick with a weapon and quicker with a cutting remark. Mara is the person he trusts with his life-and the person he sometimes has to remind to leave someone alive for questioning. Together, they can improvise their way through almost anything.

But they can't fight an enemy they haven't found. And one wrong assumption could put them on the other side of the world when the weapon is unleashed.

Packed with brutal close-quarters combat, explosive gunfights, sharp banter, and a mystery that unfolds under pressure, First Instinct launches Travis Hanley's The Instinct Trilogy with a complete, standalone mission.

The warning is real. The target is hidden. The clock is already running.