Jack Callahan is a ski-instructor.
He is also one of the best rescue worker in the Aspen, Colorado area, knowing the snow and the mountains like the back of his hand.
Before that, though, he was in the Army Special Forces, a Green Beret, who went to Vietnam in 1968, spent three years surviving in the jungles taking part in numerous missions, several of which were black ops with the CIA. During his time there he earned several medals, including the Distinguised Service Cross, Bronze Star, and several Purple Hearts.
After his enlistment was up, he got out and turned his training into another career, offering his gun for hire in war spots around the world. His most notable activity was in war-torn Rhodesia. He served in that area for four years. The action was enough to last him a lifetime and when he quit, he decided to quit the whole profession.
As the two-book series begins, Callahan has turned a love of skiing into a new life and has been in Aspen for seven years. In his mid-thirties, Callahan has been a bachelor all his life with his only steady companion being a 130-lb Rottweiler named Boomer. He has happily left his violent world behind but now and then that world catches up.
The series is included because both adventures Callahan gets involved in have international consequences. The first is more of a paramilitary operation with the added complexity of some elements of the U.S. government not approving the action. The second is largely a mystery involving a former Nazi and a deal with the devil made by several influential Americans who would rather no one find out.