Michael D. Jacquard's Thriller 'Cold Ground' Featured at Manila Book Fair
Michael D. Jacquard's debut thriller, 'Cold Ground: A Jack Decker Novel,' was presented at the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) in September. The novel follows a former special forces and CIA operative trying to adjust to quiet small-town life.
Explora Books presented Michael D. Jacquard's debut thriller, 'Cold Ground: A Jack Decker Novel,' at the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) held September 9-13. The Philippines' longest-running and largest book fair featured over 160 exhibitors this year.
The novel centers on Jack Decker, a retired US Army Special Forces and CIA Ground Branch operative who has been attempting to settle into the quiet life in the fictional town of Garrison Falls, Vermont. His new routine is disrupted when his rescued dog discovers a body along the Garrison River, pulling Decker back into investigations he had tried to leave behind.
The plot also involves Cascade Supply Solutions, a Delaware LLC operating out of a struggling mill town, which becomes central to the investigation. The case becomes intertwined with the fate of an intelligence asset named Farid, lost years earlier in Afghanistan, and Decker's own lingering responsibilities.
Alongside the main investigation, the book explores Decker's attempts to build relationships and adapt to his new surroundings. Jacquard grounds the fictional town in real-world issues, noting that the struggles of Vermont mill towns and the shell companies that emerge are "real in the ways that matter." MIBF 2026 marked the novel's first international book fair presentation. 'Cold Ground: A Jack Decker Novel' is available through major online bookstores.