Cates vividly remembers when the Shah of Iran was overthrown. He remembers, because he was in Iran not long before it happened.

Cates also spent a year each in Southeast Asia, Dubai and India and 20 months in Saudi Arabia - all in a day's work as an engineer and construction specialist.

His job often brought him into friendly contact with the U.S. military and intelligence agencies.

But not-so-friendly was his unwitting acquaintance with a lower-level leader for the forces plotting to overthrow the Shah, which led to a frightening encounter between Cates and Iran's intelligence agency, SAVAK, the Iranian military and the CIA.

Later, his work on oil and gas loading platforms in Saudi Arabia opened his eyes to the vulnerability of Middle Eastern oil supplies to acts of terrorism.

The book, he said, "reveals how dependency on oil from the Middle East has caused the Western world to compromise its historical culture, democracy and tradition by supporting undemocratic and repressive monarchies beholden to religious fundamentalists."

Many colorful characters in "Black October" are based on people Cates knows personally, including one fellow who sold whiskey to almost 400 members of the Saudi royal family. The man was convicted and served time in a Saudi prison.

Another protagonist, a fictional CIA agent, is a composite of three real people, one of whom worked for the CIA.

Cates has been encouraged in his writing by his wife, Sharon, a writer of children's and young adult fiction. "I couldn't do it without her," he said. "She's my muse!"

Cates considers his book something of a warning. "I hope my book's premise - attacks on Mideast oil facilities at a time when international oil and financial markets are stressed - will cause world leaders to make sure that it does not happen."

"Black October" is available online at www.Amazon.com and through the author at 760-788-7976.