By Order of the President

When a commercial Boeing 727 vanishes from an Angolan airfield under deeply suspicious circumstances, every major U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agency scrambles to claim jurisdiction — and promptly gets in each other's way. Frustrated by the turf wars and bureaucratic chest-thumping, the President reaches outside the system entirely, tapping a sharp Army intelligence officer to cut through the noise and find the truth. The stakes are real and the clock is running, and Griffin makes it feel personal rather than procedural — this is a story about loyalty, competence, and what happens when institutions fail the people they're supposed to protect.

Griffin's particular strength has always been his insider fluency: the ranks, the protocols, the culture of men and women in uniform and in the agencies that surround them. That authenticity gives By Order of the President a weight that keeps the pages turning even during quieter moments. He builds his world methodically, with fully drawn characters who earn their place in the story before the tension peaks. It's the kind of thriller where the setup is as satisfying as the payoff — and a confident, engrossing opening to what becomes a richly developed series.