Descending Eagle

About the Book
Mexico is on fire, ravaged by the cartels, and a corrupt government on the verge of a failed State. With rampant crime and unbridled immigration, the President of The United States must take action to curtail chaos within the borders. The only option is a black deniable operation as he turns to a private security firm, staffed with former agency and military specialists, to carry out a daunting plan that plays out in different parts of the globe.
Central is John David Stock, a career CIA operative returning to the drug wars after an unplanned hiatus. A master plan is crafted in which the cartels become the hunted against a backdrop of unexpected intrigue. Marcie Beck, a former top CIA analyst, joins the team with her and Stock combining skills, styles, and personalities to advance this fast-moving story. Unpredictably a treacherous agenda unveils as the core members of the American security company are forced to operate beyond their mission's original objectives.

«Descending Eagle» is but a glimpse of what is real and what is on the horizon.

A masterpiece in storytelling through real-world circumstances and details

Hyper-relevant to today's geopolitics, international crime, and the forces that collide between good and evil

A refreshing read, produced by a new and up-and-coming author


The Book Forward
As the Assistant Administrator and Chief of Operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2005, I testified before Congress about the threats posed by the growing confluence of designated terrorist and international drug trafficking organizations. I was immediately hammered by many ‘experts’ around the beltway for promoting implausible supposition! Within five years our military and intelligence communities began to realize the gravity of the situation and thankfully, changed their mindset.
In Descending Eagle, W.C. Ballinger perfectly captures several interlocking threats posed by the convergence of terrorist groups and international drug trafficking cartels. Most of our Nation’s 50+ formally Designated Terrorist Organizations are now involved in one or more aspects of the global drug trade. These threats come together in Ballenger’s novel in the most realistic of ways. Is it fiction, or is it reality? You be the judge, but after 45 years as a practitioner and policymaker focused on countering the threats posed by the “potpourri of global scum,” I can tell you the plots rendered in Descending Eagle accurately capture, in expertly crafted granular detail, exactly how the real underworld operates and what needs to be done to counter this modern-day scourge. Welcome to the real-world!
DEA Assistant Administrator and Chief of Operations
-Michael Braun, (Ret.)

Editorial Reviews
“Ballinger is a superb writer and storyteller. Readers will find themselves propelled through page after page to uncover the next plot twist and turn. Descending Eagle makes the reader ask themselves about the feasibility of the story becoming non-fiction.” 
CIA — Operations and Counterintelligence — Bart Bechtel, (Ret.)
«A riveting read that's technically and tactically sound. As former Special Forces and a senior Counterdrug staff officer, Descending Eagle is a suspenseful novel with a realistic and believable scenario. Highly recommended!” 
U.S. Army — Special Forces officer — COL James M. Williamson, (Ret.)
“Will Ballenger's first “action” novel is a rare read. His characters from CIA, DEA, DOD, US State Department and Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime Groups all ring true and are beautifully developed. The plot is fantastical yet deeply underpinned by reality. Engaging and surprising a great summer read (poised to be a blockbuster movie.)" 
CIA Case Officer — Latin America — Kim  M.L., (Ret)
«Descending Eagle is as realistic as it gets. I couldn't put it down. I love this book. I love the characters and it explodes with realistic weapons, tactics and scenarios. As a former SEAL Team 6 member, I often have a hard time reading books in this space because they lack realistic details. Descending Eagle is as realistic as it gets. I couldn't put it down.” 
Former U.S. Navy — SEAL Team 6 member — Michael Janke
«Descending Eagle is on par with any of Tom Clancy's novels, and I have read them all.  Thoroughly researched, suspenseful, and thought provoking.”
LRRP & Special Forces "A” Team Commander - BG Robert (BOB) Hipwell, (Ret.)

From the Author
Dynamic, ever-expanding geopolitical actions on the United States' southern border continue to mount one of the most serious threats of this century. The Mexican internal actors, through drug cartels, subvert the political system, siphon profits through extortion from the legitimate economic structure, and smuggle the dangerous narcotic fentanyl north, posing a severe destabilizing concern to the United States. Additionally, asymmetrical non-state “Terrorist Foreign Infiltrators,” cloaked as immigrants, represent a different kind of direct national security threat to the United States. Combining these factors results in a profound risk to Mexico's nation-state status with severe reverberations both internally and to its northern neighbor. 
A yet more cunning player, China, the primary producer of precursor chemicals for methamphetamine and fentanyl, has used a toehold to insinuate itself into the economic fabric of Mexico, and thus the United States. A long-term strategic player, China has already shown its hand in many other nations as it seeks to drop an anchor in the Americas.