Each morning, I wake up to two questions. Where am I? Who am I? This isn’t philosophy; my life depends on those answers. I do not open my eyes until I know whether I’m FBI Special Agent Ashley Prescott or Corporal Niki Foster—proud member of the Patriots For Freedom, a D.C area militia that would kill me if they knew who I really was. The toughest days where a single mistake could be fatal are those that demand I shed one skin and step into the other without leaving a seam.

Today is one of those days. Near dawn, I slip out of Niki’s undercover apartment for a ten-mile run to check my head, my legs, and—most of all, my tail. I randomize which doors I use to come and go, the Metro stops I use, the routes I jog. Nothing twitches my radar on today’s run. Still, I follow my plan and take the stairs two at a time to the top-floor, sweat pouring off me, stinging my eyes. A perfect run.

I pull open the fire door and spot an unsub standing outside my apartment door. Now there are two things screwing up my day. I’ll worry later how he made it past the front desk guard. I retreat through the fire door and ease it shut. Is this related to the 2:00 a.m. phone call from someone claiming my (Ashley’s) billionaire father has sent his private plane to take me to see him about some urgent matter he can’t discuss.

Bad enough my father is trying again to suck me into the family business. Worse, somehow he got Niki’s undercover cell number and called that! There’s a leak in the FBI. A leak that blows covers is a leak that can get me killed.

I haven’t survived this dual life without developing tricks of my own. I thumb my phone and cue the pinhole camera above my apartment door. The unsub wears a Nationals ballcap that hides his face as he peers through my peephole. Another camera shows he’s the only one in the hallway. Not a hit team, then. I zoom in my third camera and scan his back side from ballcap to—I recognize the cowboy boots.

No one from the bureau should ever be at Niki’s undercover apartment. Yet here Rick is. I have ten minutes to get rid of him, shower, and leave for a militia meeting. The electricity coursing through my system isn’t fear or an adrenaline rush—it’s pure purpose. Patriots For Freedom represents a threat to everything I’ve sworn to protect. No leak, no bureaucratic interference, no danger will keep me from stopping them.

It’s only 7:50 in the morning, and this is a taste of a day in my life.

Niki Undercover – A Niki Undercover Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Release: September 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Two years undercover. One phone call. Zero margin for error.

FBI Agent Ashley Prescott has spent two years undercover as Niki Foster, earning the trust of Patriots for Freedom—an extremist militia. As the Bureau’s only window into the group—and their Chinese linguist and arms go-between—she’s the only one who can stop an imminent weapons sale and their plot to tear America apart with targeted assassinations. Then her estranged billionaire father vanishes after leaking classified intel—details that threaten to expose her and could only have come from a traitor inside the FBI.

HQ plans to shut down her op, claiming she blew her cover. Ashley knows what that means: the Bureau will nab a few small fry and proclaim victory, while the militia leaders disappear, the arms shipment remains a threat, and the traitor wrecks other lives.

Racing between Minnesota to track down her father and D.C. to maintain her cover, she has ten days to expose the mole and stop the plot. With ex-SEALs closing in and her own agency against her, going rogue is her only shot at saving the country—and her own survival.

When the system turns against you, justice becomes a one-woman war.

NIKI UNDERCOVER launches an explosive new thriller series for fans of Isabella Maldonado and Karin Slaughter.

About the author
James M. Jackson writes justice-driven thrillers with “brains and bite,” including the award-winning Seamus McCree series. That series explores financial crimes, family relationships, and their deadly intersection. It spans eight novels, two novellas, and several short stories. His new series launches with Niki Undercover starring Ashley Prescott, an undercover federal agent fighting domestic terrorism. A life member of Sisters in Crime and past president of its Guppy Chapter, Jackson calls home the deep woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. When he’s not tormenting characters, he’s likely birdwatching, searching for moose, or tracking critters. Find news, extras, and upcoming events at jamesmjackson.com.