About The Author
Barry L. Becker retired in 2013 after spending twenty-two years as a sole proprietor for his independent manufacturers’ representative company, covering the Pacific Northwest. He also provided marketing consultancy services to the Biometrics Technology industry.
From 1984 to 1991, he served as the vice president of international sales and marketing for Eyedentify, a Beaverton, Oregon-based company specializing in eye retinal technology for positive identification within sensitive and classified facilities. Their significant customers were intelligence agencies, defense and interior ministries, aerospace and defense contractors, nuclear power plants, banks, and financial institutions. During that period, he traveled over 500,000 miles.
In 1987, his article “Eyedentify Counters Security Threat” appeared in the Journal of Defense & Diplomacy, Volume 5, Number 8.
Mr. Becker earned a bachelor’s degree in creative arts interdisciplinary and minored in marketing at San Francisco State University. He has also completed Executive Programs at the Columbia Graduate School of Business and Stanford Business School. The Ericksen Connection was his first novel, and The Ryzhkov Vendetta is his second. The series is called “A Mark Ericksen Thriller Book 1 & 2.” Mr. Becker is currently working on the 3rd book in the trilogy.
The San Francisco Book Review gave The Ericksen Connection a 4.5 of 5.0-star rating. Mr. Becker is also a military veteran.
Journal Of Defense & Diplomacy Article By Barry Becker: “Eyedentify Counters Security Threat”
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Barry L. BeckerAuthor
1. What motivated you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and turning it into a book?
After I retired in 2013, I began thinking about my experience marketing a high-security technology system around the world and thought I could write a good story. The marketing and selling of the eye-retinal biometrics technology to major aerospace and defense corporations, banks and financial institutions, nuclear power plants, ministries of defense and interior, intelligence agencies, and even access to a president or prime minister of a country constituted the need by these entities to positively identify a person by their unique eye-retina patterns in order to gain access to their sensitive facilities.
Since I had the opportunity of meeting people whose job it was to secure their environment at all costs, and since I enjoyed suspense thriller espionage movies and books, it was natural for me to let my imagination get unrestrained. Thus, I created my protagonist, Mark Ericksen, a former Navy SEAL Team-Six officer, and later a successful high-tech business executive for EyeD4 Systems. The first book, “The Ericksen Connection”, was completed in November 2014. The second book, “The Ryzhkov Vendetta”, is book 2 of the Mark Ericksen Thriller Book.
2. What is it about and who is it for?
The Ryzhkov Vendetta is about Alexander Ryzhkov, a former general of the Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) who ran a covert operation in the Middle East that the CIA thwarted. During the CIA “Operation Avenging Eagles”, Mark Ericksen and other CIA operatives sabotaged his mission and killed many Russian agents, including his brother, Sergei Ryzhkov. Now Ryzhkov is out for revenge. He manages to obtain the names of the CIA team and launches his vendetta.
The book is for readers who enjoy espionage suspense thrillers. Primarily, men ages 22-80.
3. What do you hope the reader will be left with after reading it?
I hope the reader can appreciate the high stakes men and women like Mark Ericksen, Lars Wahlberg, and Kate McDonald face in their roles protecting their country’s national security and the threats foreign adversaries pose to our nation.
4. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers?
As a fledgling writer who drew strength on my background in international sales and marketing of security systems, and on my imagination, I had the desire to write a story and finish it. Finishing the story was my reward. I believe everyone has a story and if they have the desire to write it, hopefully, they will be determined to finish it.
5. What trends in the book world do you see-- and where do you think this book publishing industry is heading?
Truthfully, I’m not sure where the trends are for the book world. All I know is people love to read good stories.
6. What challenges did you overcome to write this book?
The major challenge I faced in writing my story is being focused each time I sat down by my computer and strived to thread the plots and scenes together, hoping each chapter moved the story further until it was finished.
7. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours?
That is a good question. There are so many excellent books out in the marketplace, and if people truly enjoy reading an espionage suspense thriller with colorful characters, hopefully, they’ll take a chance and read “The Ryzhkov Vendetta.”
