Dead Hand
“When deterrence fails, the Dead Hand takes over.”
Espionage Thriller • Cold War
At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet engineer discovers that the ultimate nuclear safeguard may become the weapon that ends everything. As intelligence agencies, military leaders, and hidden conspirators converge, the race to control Dead Hand becomes a race to prevent Armageddon.
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About the Book
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union creates Perimeter—an automated nuclear command system designed to guarantee retaliation even if its leaders are wiped out. But when control of the system falls into the wrong hands, the weapon intended to prevent nuclear war threatens to start one.
As American and Soviet intelligence operatives race to uncover the conspiracy, engineer Dmitri Yarynich finds himself at the center of a crisis that reaches from Moscow’s corridors of power to a secret Soviet communications facility. With time running out, enemies on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain must confront the same terrifying possibility: a nuclear war that neither side actually ordered.
Blending Cold War history with a fictional espionage thriller, Dead Hand explores the danger of surrendering humanity’s most consequential decision to a system designed to act when humans no longer can.
Book Details
Author: James Leach
Genre: Espionage Thriller • Cold War
Publication Date: September 7, 2026
Formats: Hardcover • Paperback • Kindle
Status: Published
About the Author
James “JC” Leach, USAF (Ret.) is a U.S. Air Force military veteran, technical writer, instructional designer, and screenwriter whose work blends operational realism, geopolitical tension, and deeply human stakes.
With more than two decades of experience across military aviation, electronic warfare, technical documentation, intelligence-related training, and instructional design, JC brings a combination of field knowledge and narrative discipline to his fiction. His U.S. Air Force career included electronic warfare and airborne systems, thousands of flight hours, and extensive experience working within complex military and aerospace environments.
After years developing screenplays, James brought that same cinematic instinct to long-form fiction, combining visual storytelling, technical authenticity, and character-driven suspense.
JAMES LEACH Author • Screenwriter 