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The Braintrust
Series · 6 books · 2017-2020

Books in series

The Braintrust book cover
#1

The Braintrust

A Harmony of Enemies

2017

Expelling the Immigrants was Easy. Forcing One to Return…How Hard Could It Be? Long ago, the President for Life expelled all foreign engineers from Silicon Valley. They moved to the BrainTrust, a fleet of cruise liners off the coast of San Francisco. Now a brilliant young BrainTrust woman tackles the Fountain of Youth. No one needs her cure more than the aged and dying President. Taking her back should be easy. After all… The BrainTrust has no Army, no Navy, no Air Force. Their ships have neither weapons nor armor. Yet a key question Can a society that has earned the name BrainTrust ever be truly defenseless? He has the Brawn. She has the BrainTrust. Game On! Nominated for the 2018 Prometheus Award. If you like Robert Heinlein, Michael Crichton, Charles Stross, or Ayn Rand, welcome to the BrainTrust.
Crescendo Of Fire book cover
#2

Crescendo Of Fire

2018

If a rocketship dies, who wins? The world’s most advanced rocket company suffers a catastrophic explosion that becomes a publicity disaster. Within hours, the new CEO Matt Toscano learns he faces much deeper trouble than a public relations problem—The California Governor plans to destroy him. Suddenly mankind’s best hope of better space travel lies on the water, with the BrainTrust. Fortunately Dash Ambarawati, the BrainTrust’s most brilliant researcher, has studied rocket science since childhood. With her help, Matt stands a chance. But Dash brings trouble with her. Matt and Dash find themselves with a host of enemies on their heels, including the Russian Union Premier and the American President for Life. The race is on. One way or the other, this race will end in a Crescendo of Fire. Meanwhile, An itty bitty ninja gets her fondest wish. An ex-commando squares off with a Red Princess. And a retired project director toils quietly behind the scenes. Kidnappers, oligarchs, politicians, dictators, princelings—outwitting them is not just a job, it’s an adventure. And all in a day’s work…on the BrainTrust. Scroll back to the top, and click “Read for Free” or “Buy Now” and kick back for a thought-provoking, action-packed adventure that will have you staying up all night reading to discover the truth!
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#3

Rhapsody For The Tempest

2018

She's Invading the Cradle of Civilization Thousands of years ago, the northern plateau of China gave rise to the first great civilization. Now Jam, an ex-commando from the BrainTrust, is searching the plateau for the untapped geniuses needed to power the BrainTrust’s expansion. She leads a two-woman invasion that could roil the power structure in China to its core. As Jam rides roughshod over tyranny, bureaucracy and ignorance, as she accumulates ever more enemies, she wanders ever nearer to an ancient secret—The secret that powered the first Cradle of Civilization so long ago. Even with all the help she can get from her best friends Dash and Ping, will it be enough to bring the secret home where it belongs? Is Dash’s brilliance truly nonhuman? And above all, will Ping ever get to use her Big Gun?
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#4

Ode to Defiance

2019

If the First Plague Apocalypse Doesn't Kill Them All, Try Another. The most brilliant mind in a thousand years has been tortured and twisted by human cruelty. His Burn the world down and start from scratch. Almost no one can stop him. A single obstacle stands in his way. He must destroy the BrainTrust and its medical researcher extraordinaire, Dr. Dash. With millions dying, nuclear war in the offing, and the BrainTrust under siege, the fight for the very soul of humanity hinges on a last desperate Who remains to Defy the Darkness? —————————— Nominated for the 2020 Prometheus Award. This is a long book—450 pages! If you like Michael Crichton, or Robert Heinlein, or even the TV show “The Last Ship”, welcome to the BrainTrust. While this saga takes place in the BrainTrust universe with some returning characters, it picks up over a year after the other books and does stand alone. No prior experience necessary.
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#5

Requiem

2020

The World Economy Crashed and Burned. What's a BrainTrust To Do? Having barely dodged an extinction level event, humanity now faces a new disaster: the world plunges into a Great Crash deeper and more cruel than the Depression of 1929. The BrainTrust has an answer. But the old, corrupt, dirtside Powers don’t need an answer. They need a scapegoat. Soon an unholy alliance launches three mighty fleets, each individually powerful enough to destroy all the combined navies of WWII. Relentless and unstoppable, they bear down on the effectively unarmed archipelago. Now Dash and her mentor Colin must face a last question. It will be her Final Exam. Can Dash even accept the only answer? How terrible is the price she will have to pay? Welcome to the thrilling finale of the BrainTrust saga! \—— Note: For this novel, in collaboration with five economists and two cryptocurrency software engineers, I developed a new currency that should work in real life to flatten the boom/bust cycle. So if you'd like to see one way an advanced civilization could deal with economics, you could read this not only as a good yarn but as a guide.
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#7

Let The Bits Run Free

A Novelette Of The Braintrust

2018

Charlie was just doing his homework. But on the BrainTrust, homework can get you in a lot of hot water. How do you teach children to defend themselves from a cyberattack? On the BrainTrust, you first teach them how to launch a cyberattack. Inevitably, overachieving twelve year old Charlie Winston has gone and done it. He’s a bright kid, and he’s gonna get a really excellent grade for the shockingly sensitive, perfidious data he’s collected. Perhaps too excellent. Now peacekeepers, teachers, news reporters, and a California Lead Investigator are all converging on him. How can he get them to understand, it’s just not that big a deal? A short novelette set in the world of the BrainTrust.

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The Braintrust