Southampton--August 9, 2011--James Marinero explores the concept in Gate of Tears (now on Kindle too). Here are some edited snippets:

“Yes, it looks a bit like the standard issue L107A1 - the old SIG 226 - deliberately, with the same weight, balance, trigger pull weight. This, though, is the latest gear - British manufacture I’m proud to say. Mostly plastic. No projectiles - it’s an energy pulse weapon. We call it an epigun.

Point and shoot. Lethal, or not, choose as you fire. Aim for torso. A regular trigger pull for stun, a double tap usually kills. The stun pulse disrupts the nervous system of the target for a few minutes, incapacitates them for an hour or so, a bit like a tasar. The double tap sends the heart into deep arrhythmia from which it does not stabilise. Composite Kevlar derivative armour is no protection. Complete recovery from stun in most cases - except memory- but even stun could be fatal if the subject has a heart problem.

Infra red sights with illuminator - here where you’d expect a Maglite torch. Has a high temperature spot target designator- you’ll be wearing a headset with night vision goggles even though the moon is up so you can see into the shadows. Charge in the energy cell is good for 30 kill shots, silent, no flash.

You may see a slight flicker of light when you hit your target - metal or animal. Oh, and it’s good for disrupting most electronics unless they are very heavily shielded.”...

Steve toted the pistol, and could see that the barrel appeared to be blocked.

Don nodded. “Yes, there’s a specially shaped alloy core inside the barrel - room temperature superconductor or so I’m told, together with neodymium rare earth magnetry. It maximises and focuses the pulse energy - like a directional aerial. It’s all electronic - no hammer action, decocking lever, dead simple"...

“No drop either as there’s no bullet for gravity to act on, though it makes no difference at 20 metres” Don continued...

“If you want more recoil then we can adjust that too, but it reduces the load by about 50% if we dial it up to the recoil of the 226. Muzzle energy is 15 kilojoules equivalent - that’s the same as a .50 calibre heavy machine gun. Energy cell holds 1 megajoule, only half is usable though.”...

“Hell Don, I’m a soldier not a scientist. I once went out with a girl called Jools and yeh - 42 double D chest, she was known as Megajools. That’s all it means to me. How come you know so much about this weapon?”...

“I headed the evaluation and operational acceptance testing teams, so I should know"...

(c) 2011 James Marinero. These selected extracts may be reproduced by bone fide journalists.

James Marinero has a bachelor's degree in physics and masters degrees in marine science and business. Having worked all over the world - the Middle East, Russia, Scandinavia, US, Asia - in sectors from government to investment banking, he has plenty of knowledge and experience to draw on for his great stories. 'Gate of Tears' is set in the Middle East in the context of espionage, Chinese cyberwar and blue-water naval growth, driven by manipulation of world gold markets. Look at gold prices today, look at Middle Eastern political upheaval - they are all in 'Gate of Tears' . How topical can a novel be?

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