Shadows of the Ascendancy: The Explosive Sequel to State of Deception

By Stu Armstrong

When the world's deadliest operative discovers his greatest failure has been resurrected as a weapon, he must descend into the heart of an underground empire, and confront the ghost he created.

After years off the grid, the Ghost is dragged back into a war he thought he buried. Intelligence confirms the unthinkable: Kellerman, once his closest ally and later his greatest regret, is alive beneath a covert Iranian megastructure known only as Behemoth. But Kellerman is no hostage, he has been rebuilt, reprogrammed, and unleashed as the public face of Phase Three, a terrifying new evolution of sleeper networks.

As global powers deny involvement and time runs out, the Ghost joins an unmarked, disavowed assault team tasked with penetrating Behemoth's underground labyrinth. With him is Anna Fox, an analyst forced into the field, and the one person who still believes he can be saved.

What they find below Tehran defies everything they know, as alliances fracture and betrayals surface, the Ghost must face the ultimate question: Can you kill a man you once swore to save?

Explosive, emotional, and relentlessly tense, SHADOWS OF THE ASCENDANCY is a high-stakes thriller about identity, redemption, and the cost of surviving the shadows.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G6KS1LK1
• ISBN13: 9798278394921
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"