Scarecrow
Matthew Reilly
 Majestic-12, a group of the worlds richest men, make up a bounty list of fifteen targets that have to be eliminated before 12 noon of October, 26th. Among the targets is Shane Schofield, who at that moment is on a mission to Siberia with Book II and a group of Marines. Schofield's team is supposed to meet up with two Delta groups, the leaders of the two Delta units also being on M-12's hit list. Schofield unit comes under fire from a group of bounty hunter led by Cedric Wexley and all but Schofield and Book II are killed. Schofield and Book II escape via a hijacked plane owned by a bounty hunter known as the Hungarian. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, Schofield's girlfriend Elizabeth Gant leads a group of Marines along with Mother to a cave system where Osama bin Laden's number two man is. Schofield races to Afghanistan so none of the bounty hunters can use Gant to get to him but arrives too late and she is captured by a bounty hunter group known as IG-88, led by Damon "Demon" Larkham. Schofield meets a bounty hunter named Aloysius Knight who has been paid to protect him from harm. Knight and Schofield go to save Gant while Book II and Mother go to London to confront another person on the hit list. Meanwhile, the remaining people on the hit list are being taken out and Schofield's friend David Fairfax goes to help one of them but the man he is going to help is killed. The person that Book II and Mother are attempting to meet is also killed and they, too are almost killed. Schofield, Knight, and Gant disguise themselves as bounty hunters to get into a castle owned by Jonathan Killian to find out more about the bounty hunt. While Knight claims the bounty on two heads, Killian sets a trap for Schofield and Gant, forcing them to escape in one of Killian's cars with Wexley's men in close pursuit, followed by Knight. Schofield goes over a cliff and is presumed dead while Knight and Gant are captured. Mother is picked up by Rufus, Knight's pilot, and goes to help Knight while Schofield is captured by the French and brought to an aircraft carrier to explain to him why he is to be terminated. Gant is murdered and Knight escapes, Gant's final words being for Knight to tell Schofield she would have said yes to his planned proposal. Rufus, Mother, and Knight go to rescue Schofield. It is revealed that Schofield along with the fifteen other targets are the only people who had quick enough reaction to disable a missiles being launched from ships in the Kormoran Project. The plan being for missiles to attack every nation and make it look like its enemies launched the weapon so that a new Cold War will start and M-12 can make more profits from the war. Schofield is rescued before being killed but Knight reveals to him that Gant was murdered. Saddened by Gant's death, Schofield attempts to commit suicide but is stopped by Mother. At the same time, Fairfax and Book II are flown to different ships so that Schofield can disable all of the missiles at the same time. Schofield succeeds and Mother is presumed to have perished, but learns that there was a backup plan and a missile is heading right for Mecca on the first day of Ramadan. Schofield is able to deactivate the missile but in turn, M-12 captures Schofield, Rufus, and Knight. Shofield is about to be killed in the same way and by the same person as Gant was but Mother reveals herself to be alive and Schofield kills Gant's killer while Rufus is injured. Knight and Schofield go to confront Killian and Wexley is killed too. Schofield throws himself and Killian out a window but Knight saves Schofield. Several months later, Knight and Rufus meet the person who hired them, the richest woman on the planet who wanted to be part of M-12 but, as they wouldn't let her, she ruined their plan. It is also revealed that the rest of M-12 died in mysterious ways. Demon and the IG-88 kill Knight's payer as revenge for taking two of their bounties during the hunt. Later, at Mother's house, Schofield receives a letter from Knight telling him to accept Gant's death and move on. Schofield goes to the Marine Corps building and says he's ready for duty again.