John Leifer

John Leifer is a senior health care executive, consultant, academic, and writer. He is the author of The Myths of Modern Medicine: The Alarming Truth About American Health Care and After You Hear It’s Cancer: A Guide to the Difficult Journey Ahead, both published by Rowman & Littlefield. 

John is also an accomplished fiction author – writing thrillers that draw upon his experiences with key governmental agencies and scientists, including serving on a presidential panel led by former national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft. His Commander John Hart thriller trilogy begins with Terminal, a heart-pounding tale of bioterrorism, followed by 8 Seconds to Midnight, involving nuclear espionage. The third book in the series, Thou Shall Not Kill, was released in April 2019.

When not writing, John is either picking up camera, hiking in the mountains, or practicing his martial art. As an avid photographer, Leifer’s work has been exhibited in galleries across the nation. His photos can be seen at uncommonvision.com. Leifer holds a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Terminal (Commander John Hart Series)

Thriller

In this chilling prequel to 8 Seconds to Midnight, the most devastating terrorist attack ever recorded on American soil begins and ends without spilling a single drop of blood. Four jihadists, armed with nothing more than a briefcase and a pen, walk nonchalantly through the country’s busiest airports, killing time and killing people. A deadly mist, laden with a universally lethal virus, trails close behind them. Their goal: foment a global pandemic. Their vision: Armageddon, where only the Chosen Ones – those loyal to the United Islamic State – survive. The job of stopping them falls squarely on the shoulders of one man, Commander John Hart, but will he be in time?

​8 Seconds to Midnight (Commander John Hart Series)

Thriller

8 Seconds to Midnight takes the reader on a non-stop thrill-ride that begins with the clandestine transfer of nuclear material from a secure Pakistani army installation thirty miles north of Islamabad to a group of radical Islamists bent on the destruction of the West. It culminates in the streets of New York – minutes before the impending detonation of a fifteen-kiloton nuclear bomb.

The city’s survival hinges on one man, Commander John Hart, and his ability to ferret out the perpetrators, discern where the weapon is hidden, and disable it before midnight December 31. Hart must rely on equal measures of brawn, brain, and prayer to stop the cadre of jihadists whose plan has been in the making for sixteen years.

Should he fail, the job of healing America’s mortal wound will fall squarely on the shoulders of Dr. Elizabeth Wilkins. It’s a job she didn’t ask for, and hopes never materializes.​

Thou Shall Not Kill (Commander John Hart Series)

Thriller

It was a beautiful morning graced by crystal blue skies as Kamal passed through the gate at Sapir Academic College, Israel’s largest public university. Unnoticed, he merged seamlessly into the flow of bodies traversing the campus. At precisely 9:05 a.m. he began to recite his prayers. Two minutes later, he stopped, stared at the heavens, then shouted, “Allah Akbar!” before depressing a detonator.

​In a millisecond, scorching hot metal ripped through the flesh of anyone within Kamal’s line of sight. Students dropped mid-stride. Dismembered bodies lined the sidewalks, and blood soaked the grass. Kamal’s headless torso lay amid the dead and dying.It was merely the first shot in a methodically planned, multi-pronged attack designed to “wipe Israel from the face of the earth.” Its perpetrators included a combined army, 40,000 men strong, of Iranian, Syrian, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Russian forces—men who would stop at nothing to achieve their objective.

As the attack escalated from an act of terrorism to an existential threat, the words, Never Again echoed in the mind of Israeli prime minister Abraham Rabinovich. It was a promise by Jewish Holocaust survivors to never again be passive in the face of systematic annihilation.

With a single order, Rabinovich was poised to launch weapons capable of incinerating entire cities. Only two things stood in his way: his conscience and Commander John Hart.