The Slush Pile Brigade

On his thirtieth birthday, Nick Lassiter has lost his girlfriend and his job, is wanted by the police, and has discovered that his unpublished thriller, “Blind Thrust,” has been stolen and turned into a blockbuster movie called Subterranean Storm. Even worse, the movie is based on a soon-to-be best-selling novel by Australian thriller writer Cameron Beckett, one of the world’s biggest brand name authors. Rather than seek revenge through a financial settlement or public humiliation, Lassiter sets out for New York to obtain mea culpas from Beckett and his renowned literary agent, whom he is certain colluded with the Aussie in stealing his debut novel.

Once in New York, Lassiter, and his three quirky fish-out-of-water friends who insist on accompanying him, instantly run afoul of the law and other powerful forces intent on thwarting them and their mission. As they encounter one thorny obstacle after another,

the scope of their inquiries expands and they are soon in way over their heads, battling toe-to-toe not only against the mega-best- selling author and his agent, but a formidable army of antagonists, including

the NYPD, Beckett’s Big Five publishing house security squad, and the Russian mob. Collectively, these adversaries present Lassiter with the greatest—and deadliest—challenge of his life.

Unexpectedly aided by his CIA father, Director of the Russian Counterintelligence Desk, and his former girlfriend turned CIA-informant, Lassiter and his comrades take to calling themselves the Slush Pile Brigade. Outmatched and outgunned, they are foiled at virtually every turn but still they are determined to win. But will they find justice? Can they prove that Beckett and his crooked literary agent have stolen Lassiter’s blockbuster novel and are undeservedly reaping the success? And more importantly, will they solve one of the most important counterintelligence cases in CIA history and actually live to tell about it?

Samuel Marquis works by day as vice-president - hydrogeologist at an environmental consulting firm in Boulder, Colo., and by night as a writer of historical and modern suspense novels. He holds a Master of Science degree in geology, is a registered professional geologist in eleven states and is a recognized expert in groundwater contaminant hydrogeology, having served as a hydrogeologic expert witness in several class action litigation cases. He also has a deep and abiding interest in military history and intelligence, specifically related to the Plains Indian Wars, World War II and the current War on Terror.

His strong technical scientific background and deep passion for military history and intelligence has served Samuel Marquis well as a suspense writer. James Patterson has compared his forthcoming novel, “The Coalition,” to “The Day After Tomorrow,” the classic thriller by Allan Folsom which appeared in the number three spot in its first week on the New York Times bestseller list for fiction and for which American publishing rights were sold for two million dollars. Donald Maas, author of “Writing 21st Century Fiction” and two novels, has compared “The Coalition” to “The Day of the Jackal.” Other book reviewers have compared Marquis’s WWII espionage novel, “Bodyguard of Deception,” to the spy novels of Daniel Silva, Ken Follett and Alan Furst.
In addition to his novels, Mr. Marquis is widely published in peer-reviewed scientific journals/books and has provided principal expert litigation support and senior technical oversight on a variety of remedial, hydrogeologic and sustainability projects.