Vector Strike

About This Book

Five years ago, Flight 1892 fell from the sky, killing everyone aboard—including Daniel Ochieng’s sister Amara. The official investigation called it pilot error. Daniel knew better.

The Story

Daniel Omondi Ochieng has spent five years hunting the truth about his sister’s death. A former air traffic controller with an investigator’s instincts and a survivor’s obsession, he refused to accept the official findings. Now a covert operative for CRITICOM—a black-budget interagency task force protecting America’s critical infrastructure—he finally has the resources to find answers.

When three aircraft nearly collide over Seattle in an attack pattern Daniel recognizes from that terrible night five years ago, he knows the nightmare isn’t over. It’s escalating.

United 447, Alaska 892, and a private Citation miss catastrophe by seconds. Daniel sees the fingerprints of the same threat that killed his sister—someone is weaponizing the systems designed to keep planes apart.

The trail leads from the control towers of Seattle TRACON to the gleaming runways of the Dubai Airshow, where a network of disillusioned aerospace insiders—former pilots, disgraced engineers, and bitter security researchers—plans to demonstrate exactly how vulnerable the world’s aviation systems have become.

Their target: simultaneous attacks across three continents.

Their timeline: fifteen minutes.

Their weapon: commercial aviation itself.

With the FBI dismissing his evidence and the clock ticking down, Daniel must infiltrate the network, identify the attack platform, and stop a catastrophe that will be broadcast live to every news camera on the planet.

But the deeper he digs, the more he realizes the conspiracy reaches further than he ever imagined. Someone inside CRITICOM is feeding them everything he does. And the woman at the center of it all—a woman who survived the crash that killed his sister—has been watching him for a very long time.

What Readers Are Saying

“A pulse-pounding debut that combines technical authenticity with relentless suspense. Balome clearly knows this world inside and out.”

“I couldn’t put it down. The aviation details are spot-on, and Daniel Ochieng is a protagonist you root for from page one.”

“Finally, a thriller that gets cybersecurity right. Vector Strike is the real deal.”

“The most authentic aviation thriller since Michael Crichton’s Airframe.”

About the Series

The CRITICOM Files follows Daniel Omondi Ochieng as he becomes an operative for CRITICOM (Critical Infrastructure Countermeasures)—a covert unit protecting America’s most vulnerable systems from threats that exist in the shadows between agencies.

Books in the Series

1. Vector Strike ← You are here
2. Radar Shadow
3. Dark Current
4. Splitwire
5. Terminal Approach

About the Author

Martin Balome is a cybersecurity professional and former air traffic controller whose technical expertise brings authenticity to every page. Holding multiple industry certifications including Security+, SSCP, CySA+, CCSP, and PenTest+, he understands the systems his fiction explores—and how they fail. He lives in Washington State with his family.