Two years undercover. One phone call.
Zero margin for error.
FBI Agent Ashley Prescott has spent two years undercover as Niki Foster,
earning the trust of Patriots for Freedom—an extremist militia. As the Bureau’s
only window into the group—and their Chinese linguist and arms go-between—she’s
the only one who can stop an imminent weapons sale and their plot to tear
America apart with targeted assassinations.
Then her estranged billionaire father vanishes after leaking classified
intel—details that threaten to expose her and could only have come from inside
the FBI.
HQ plans to shut down her op, claiming she blew her cover. Ashley knows what
that means: the Bureau will nab a few small fry and proclaim victory, while the
militia leaders disappear, the arms shipment remains a threat, and the traitor
wrecks other lives.
Racing between Minnesota to track down her father and D.C. to maintain her
cover, she has ten days to stop the plot and expose the FBI leaker. With
ex-SEALs closing in and her own agency against her, going rogue is her only
shot at saving the country—and her own survival.
When the system turns against you, justice becomes a one-woman war.
Amazon.com

If you’ve read James M. Jackson’s Seamus McCree mystery
series, you know that he doesn’t write simplistic, sentimental books.
Niki
Undercover, the first book in his new Niki thriller series, exemplifies his
complex plots, fast pace, and deep characterization. Set over the course of two
weeks, I didn’t always know where the plot would lead. But I always knew each
character because they were distinctly drawn.
Most people have complex family
situations, but I doubt anyone has the family issues that FBI Special Agent Ashley
Prescott has—and those issues interfere with her job. Being undercover, that
interference could mean her death. But then, someone doesn’t care all that much
about her life. She calls her father Robert because she never considered him a
dad. One phone call and Ashley’s life is turned upside down, which means she might
not be undercover anymore.
Niki Undercover is available on Kindle Unlimited.
Please welcome WWK’er James
M. Jackson! E. B. Davis
Niki was a supporting character
in the Seamus McCree series. How long have you known that you wanted Niki to
become the primary character in another series?
Niki appeared in Cabin Fever (Seamus McCree #3) when
she worked her first undercover assignment. That was 2010. She had a cameo
appearance in the novella “Low Tide at Tybee,” and then appeared with Seamus in
the short story “Power of Attorney,” which takes place in 2019. (All my stories
occur in “real time.”)
That’s when Niki began advocating for her own stories. I
started writing Niki Undercover, but in between drafts, I completed Granite
Oath (Seamus McCree #7) and Hijacked Legacy (Seamus McCree #8). She
appears in both stories, which take place after the events in Niki
Undercover.
“I don’t pretend to be Niki. I
become Niki.” (Loc. 127) Although Niki is donning a new persona, she still is
an FBI agent—just not herself. Has Ashley taken method acting classes?
Not formally, but she’s had acting coaches. FBI training for
undercover operators includes lots of role-playing. Niki learned that the best
undercover agents don’t role-play; they become the part. It’s one difference
that makes her so successful (and keeps her alive).
What is a burr haircut? Is it like a buzz cut? Why does Ashley
style her hair like that?
A burr haircut is a type of military-inspired haircut in
which the hair is trimmed evenly all around to less
than an eighth of an inch.
Ashley likes it for three reasons (1) it’s super easy to maintain, (2) it gives
her a tough-guy vibe that helps her undercover assignment infiltrating militias,
and (3) she can wear any wig over it to fit whatever role she is playing.
I assume an Accuracy
International Arctic Warfare Magnum is some super sniper rifle. Are wind speed
and direction really factors in marksmanship?
With a sniper rifle that has confirmed kills from over a
mile distant, gravity and wind speed have a major effect on where the bullet
strikes. Over a quarter mile (easy pickings for a sniper) the bullet drops
about four feet. A 15mph perpendicular wind could push the bullet almost a
foot. While not as big as gravity, not getting your adjustments correct means a
miss, not a hit.
What contention does Ashley have
with her colleague Special Agent Rick (spelled-with-a-silent-P)? He has family
connections, doesn’t he? How did Rick know about Seamus? It seems that even
though Ashley doesn’t like Rick, she does trust him. Why?
Ashley thinks Rick represents much of what she does not like
about the FBI. His father was an FBI big-wig; and she thinks he is a
misogynist, always making crude jokes. Rick used his connections to snoop in
Niki’s personnel file, where he read the information about her first undercover
assignment, when she ran into Seamus. Despite that, Rick is there when she
needs him. Willing to admit she might have been wrong, she learns to trust him.
In an ambush, Malachi recognizes
exSEALS, like himself, trying to kill Ashley. What is a “bone-frog” tattoo?
It’s a tattoo of a frog’s X-ray showing only the bones. I
tried to find an image I could paste here without violating copyright and
couldn’t find one. An internet search will get you lots of pictures.
Some of Malachi’s traits are
laughable. After killing a man, Malachi refuses to let Ashley drive the rental
car because she isn’t on the rental contract. And Robert made him the corporate
conscience. Is he a contradiction or what?
Malachi was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and has a strong moral core. Robert made him the corporate conscience
because he refuses to lie. Ashley soon learns that’s not the same as always
telling the truth. Malachi would consider the killing regrettable, but
necessary. Cheating on a contract is lying. He does not find those to be contradictions.
Ashley is thrust into first
professional testing, then a life-threatening ambush—the source of which she is
unsure of—and then a complex family situation, which in turn becomes a
corporate problem when Robert goes missing. How does Ashley react to becoming
CEO of her father’s company, all the while being an FBI undercover agent?
Ever since she was a kid and watched the Twin Towers fall,
she’s thought her mission in life was to protect her country. That’s why she fought
off all Robert’s attempts to bring her into the family business and chose instead
to join the FBI. To her, all this other stuff distracts from her life’s work.
She’s angry to find herself in such a position and overwhelmed by the
responsibilities, and wants to wring Robert’s neck for putting her in a
position where she doesn’t feel in control.
I loved the little old busybody
lady next door to Robert’s house. Does every neighborhood have one?
I hope so. They’re the heart and soul of neighborhood-watch
committees—especially when they are a committee of only one.
Why did Robert call Ashley
Socrates?
Robert (like George W. Bush) had nicknames for everyone. He
called Ashley “Little Spitfire” because as a kid she was a bundle of unfocused
energy. “Socrates” is what he called Tabitha because she is always asking intelligent
questions.
Ashley becomes aware that there
are big problems at Pendergast Holdings, such as bribing federal officials,
environmentally unsafe products, and embezzlement. Is this why Ashley brings
Seamus into Pendergast Holdings?
For years, Seamus led the financial crimes division of
Criminal Investigations Group and is an expert forensic accountant. Plus, she
has trust issues, and he’s one of the few people in the world she does fully
trust.
What is a “dark terminal?” What
is a TOR?
A dark terminal is a device that connects to the dark web—a
portion of the internet that standard browser searches can’t find because they
require passwords. Often those devices use software like TOR, “The Onion
Router,” which is a network designed to provide users with anonymity and
privacy while browsing the internet. The U.S. Navy developed it to encrypt
messages and split them into pieces that each travel a different route before
coming together at the end point. Bad actors often use it to access the dark
net.
Did Seamus really use the word
“sprong?”
Yup. The sentence, which refers to Niki is, “What I hear is
a coiled spring wound so tight it’ll soon sprong.”
How does Ashley function without
sleep, especially when she also has a few drinks, such as a Manhattan? In light
of all of that, why does she have a no-caffeine resolution? Seems like she
needs a lot of caffeine to me.
Ashley is younger than you and me, so she can get away with
stuff we no longer can. Her aversion to caffeine has nothing to do with health
or diet. Caffeine is a stimulant, and when in sniper mode, she cannot have any
stimulants in her system. Alcohol in moderation doesn’t affect her shooting
nerves.
Ashley doesn’t follow rules, which gets her into trouble
with the FBI and Pendergast Holdings. Is this also her greatest asset?
Ashley’s blood boils whenever she hears “because that’s the
way we’ve always done it” or “because those are the rules.” Ignoring what she
considers stupid rules frequently gets her into organizational trouble. Yet her
success at ignoring rules is a key factor in what has made her so successful as
an undercover agent.
CFO Gabriella says that Ashley
is a “change agent.” What’s that, and why is it important?
In business, change agents drive organizational change,
which Pendergast Holdings needs in order to transition from being a family-run
corporation. Ashley’s bulldozer approach to those who want to “do what we’ve
always done” accelerates the pace of necessary change.
So, is Ashley a lone wolf or a
team player?
At heart, she wants to be a team player. And she’s
been a successful one, having helped win college softball championships. But
outside that sports setting, she has not learned to trust others. She knows
that’s a personal failing, but until she learns to overcome it under stress,
she goes it alone.
What’s next for Ashley or will
she also continue to be Niki? Will Seamus be a continuing character? Will Niki
be a loose end for the Patriots for Freedom?
In Niki Unleashed (Niki Undercover Thriller #2),
Ashley remains enmeshed in the family corporation while, as Niki, she must
infiltrate an ecoterrorist organization that targets corporate executives—one
of which could be Ashley.