Edward Hochsmann

Edward Hochsmann is a retired U. S. Coast Guard search and rescue and law enforcement professional. The veteran mariner, aviator, college professor, and defense analyst has added “author” to his list of experiences. Ed likes reading, police procedurals, contemporary music on the road, and classical music in the office. After a career traveling from Australia in the west to Italy and Germany in the east, Ed has settled into a quiet life in the Florida Panhandle to focus on writing (and not shoveling snow!).

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Website: https://www.edwardhochsmann.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edhochsmann

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20594307.Edward_Hochsmann

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/edward-m-hochsmann

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Dagger Quest

Sea Adventure/Military Thriller/Technothriller

An aging Coast Guard patrol boat is all that stands between the world and nuclear annihilation!

The fate of the world hangs in the balance when a Russian bomber collides with a U.S. fighter off the Florida coast and its nuclear-tipped hypersonic missile is accidentally launched. The missile falls somewhere in the Florida Keys, and now the only thing standing between the world and nuclear annihilation is an aging Coast Guard cutter and its crew. Led by Lieutenant Sam Powell, they must find the missile before a powerful international crime syndicate can get to it to prevent a global nuclear conflict. As the crew races against time, they must rely on their courage, skill, and friendship to save the world.

If you enjoyed Marc Cameron's Jack Ryan novels and Mark Greaney's Gray Man series, you'll love Dagger Quest. Combining action-packed sea adventure with technical authenticity, this taut thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Caribbean Counterstrike

Sea Adventure/Military Thriller/Technothriller

Mission: Five days to destroy the enemy in the Caribbean before a catastrophic weapon is unleashed—but all he can think about is the woman he left behind…

The deadliest nerve gas ever made has fallen into the hands of a murderous Caribbean drug cult. The criminal 252 Syndicate has the gas in a secret lab on an oil rig servicing ship, but the ship has been taken for ransom by the Salinas Cartel in a violent drug war. The U.S. can’t use airstrikes and calls on Coast Guard Officer Ben Wyporek to lead his crew through a risky covert raid on the Salinas cult’s fortified island base. He accepts the assignment, but remembers a previous lethal encounter with the 252s and struggles to say goodbye to the love of his life, Victoria Carpenter.

Ben and his crew aboard the stealth-equipped Cutter Kauai must sneak into the harbor and tow the ship away. But if Kauai is detected and defeated, death by gas or at the hands of vicious adversaries will follow. Now, every decision Ben makes will determine the fate of his entire crew—and the chances of reuniting with Victoria.

This second book of the series builds on the friendships and teamwork of Kauai's crew, this time in the face of several challenging missions and one potentially lethal encounter.

If you enjoyed Marc Cameron's Jack Ryan novels and Mark Greaney's Gray Man series, you'll love Dagger Quest. Combining action-packed sea adventure with technical authenticity, this taut thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Bravely and Faithfully

Sea Adventure/Military Thriller/Technothriller

A New Captain's First Patrol Turns into a Fight for Their Lives

Young Coast Guard Lieutenant Haley Reardon and her crew must insert and retrieve a Defense Intelligence Agency operations team from a small Caribbean island controlled by a front company of the Chinese government and protected by a superior military force. With the fate of the DIA team in her hands, Haley must find a way to rescue them without destroying her crew and boat and starting a war.

In this thrilling third installment of the series, readers will be pulled into the action as they follow Haley and her crew on their toughest mission yet. Tinged with technical authenticity, the story conveys the humor, friendships, and teamwork of the Cutter Kauai's crew as they take on the challenge. Fans of Marc Cameron's Jack Ryan novels and Mark Greaney's Gray Man series will also find much to love in this book.

Indies Inferno

Action, Adventure

The volcano mission was only supposed to be a cover story!

In “Indies Inferno,” join the crew of the small Coast Guard cutter Kauai as they embark on an exhilarating sea adventure. Assigned to a covert intelligence operation, their mission takes an unforeseen turn when a volcano eruption engulfs the tranquil Caribbean island of Saint Ignatius.

Fighting Ecoterrorists!

The story opens with a routine screening mission which turns deadly when the crew stumbles upon an eco-terrorist plot to attack an oil tanker. Because of their quick thinking and unwavering courage, the crew foils the nefarious plan, averting a potential environmental catastrophe.

A sleeping volcano?

After arresting the would-be terrorists, Kauai’s crew is assigned to a covert mission supporting a DIA operation in the Caribbean. Their cover is a geological survey mission on the beautiful island of Saint Ignatius in the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, trouble follows as they respond to a distress call from a dive boat, on fire and sinking off Grand Turk, then discover that the sleeping volcano on St. Ignatius is awaking with a vengeance!

In the meantime, Lieutenant Ben Wyporek the newly married second in command of the cutter, must navigate the challenges of his position while also supporting his neurodiverse soulmate Victoria. Also, Lieutenant Haley Reardon, the commanding officer, discovers that being in charge doesn’t have to mean being alone when she finds companionship with the enigmatic Defense Intelligence Agency officer, Peter Simmons.

But it is Cadet Marcus Porter who finds himself in the midst of the most dangerous adventure of all. What was meant to be a summer aviation internship turns into a high-stakes mission involving a lethal volcano and unexpected romance with the beautiful young island administrator, Isabelle Jones.
                                                                           Enjoy the latest of the Kauai Sea Adventures!

This fourth novel of the series continues the humor, friendships, and teamwork of Kauai‘s crew from the previous books, with a new series of exciting actions from counterterrorism to a desperate retreat from an exploding volcano. Enjoy the action, the teamwork and camaraderie of the crew of Kauai as they face another deadly challenge.
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The First Step (C6S: Patrol Force)

Science Fiction/Space Opera/Novella

One hundred years of armistice following a devastating genocidal war finds the Listrians and Urtimalians eyeing each other warily across their frontier. The captain of a Listrian warship on an intelligence-gathering mission along the border picks up a desperate distress call from an Urtimalian research vessel only his ship receives - they are disabled and falling toward a nearby planet.

The captain faces a difficult choice. Does he break cover and cross the border in violation of the fragile truce, risking war, his ship, and the lives of his crew or abandon over one hundred Urtimalians to their deaths?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Miami

Short Story

A young Coast Guard officer is reassigned from his cutter in Virginia to second-in-command of a patrol boat in Miami. The trip down proves more eventful than he bargained for when he encounters a young family in distress.