Brett Collins is an agent with the CIA.
That is just a small part of the fascinating history of Collins for this Texan is a much accomplished man who has done a lot, seen a lot, and learned a whole lot. He is oldest of several siblings, all of whom served their time in the American Armed Forces. Collins just did it in an interesting way.
He attended West Point and graduated, earning a degree and a commission. He served honorably for several years and then decided a bigger challenge was needed so he applied for and was accepted in to Special Forces training and found considerable action and excitement in numerous places around the globe.
Still wanting more and having had a love of flying since he was a teenager, Collins opted to leave the Army for the Air Force and a chance to fly jets. Four years went by, much of that spent up in the sky. Then an old friend from his Spec-Ops days came to call, a man who had left the Service for the CIA and wanted to entice Collins to do the same. The new job would be to operate as a private contractor able to go anywhere the Agency needed a trained warrior. Ever ready for something new and challenging, Collins agreed.
That was three years before we first meet him and those years have not been spent sitting around. Still, as exciting and dangerous as it had been, it is about to get a whole lot more so. Each step he takes will get him closer to getting killed but he at least has the pleasure of taking those steps with the lovely British intelligence agent, Agatha Cornwell, who finds herself going after the same group of very nasty people as Collins. She also has the 'fun' of saving his life when they first meet by sticking a needle in his butt. Interesting way to say hello.