It’s a sight so normal that it almost fails to shock anymore; a westerner in an orange jumpsuit being paraded in front of a camera by ISIS.
Bret Lee, an American college professor kidnapped in China and smuggled to Syria, finds himself in that perilous predicament as a looming prelude to being either sold for $10 million or beheaded by a twisted ideology. Could he turn the tables on his captors and become a spy who brings ISIS down? If you love espionage thrillers, especially one laced with geopolitics, the CIA, a sexy female Kurdish warrior, a bloody gunfight in the Iraqi desert, and super-secret Tweets, don’t miss this book.
Excerpt
By late afternoon, they were only about ten miles from Iraqi Kurdistan. They stopped in a small Sunni village to get food and drink. Bret looked, but could see no evidence of phone service. As they were leaving, walking out of town on a narrow dirt road, Mina said, “See that dust cloud ahead? That is an ISIS Humvee coming this way.
“Here, take this Beretta for protection in case we have trouble. There’s a round in the chamber. Dressed as locals, we shouldn’t be bothered.” Mina held the AK-47 in the folds of her robe where it couldn’t be easily seen. “Just ignore them; follow my lead as we leave the road and start heading north.”
Bret followed instructions, but just as they stepped off the road a few yards, the Humvee reached them, stopping forty feet away. Two black-clad armed men jumped out, one shouting in Arabic.
“What are they saying?” Bret whispered, as he flipped the Beretta’s safety off, holding it out of view.
Barely audibly, she answered, “He called me beautiful and wanted to know if you were my husband. If I answer ‘Yes,’ they will kill you to get me.”
Mina shouted back in Arabic, “No, he’s my father.”
Professional Reviews
American for Sale
‘The police are investigating what appears to be a kidnapping…the male victim was a middle-aged American.’, May 29, 2016
By
Grady Harp
This review is from: American for Sale: The Demise of ISIS (Kindle Edition)
Chuck Van Soye keeps taking on new writing challenges, perhaps influenced by his background of serving as a chemical engineer, a participant in the sales and marketing aspect of business, and as an editor and writer for McGraw-Hill. He has written countless articles on various subjects from fact to fiction, from intrigue to expose of government and prison reform, from armchair musings on life, to science fiction fantasy. His writing style is straightforward, no pretense, easily readable and accessible, and able to blend intrigue with warm humor.
Keeping up with Chuck proves a challenge. It feels as though he is in a series now (a grand idea!) because of the manner in which he introduces this timely book. ‘Who is Bret Lee, the main character of this book? Unless you’ve read my novel SPY MATES, I’m sure you don’t have the faintest idea. So allow me to briefly introduce him. Bret Lee is an unassuming middle-age American man who loves his country and his family in equal measure. He could very well be your next door neighbor, and you’d like him a lot. He’s a no-nonsense, let’s-get-it-done, kind of guy that always seems to turn up with a good idea when you need help the most. He’s also an ex-spy of sorts, but you’d never know it, since he’s a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland. Not many years before, through a chain of unanticipated events, he found himself, and ultimately his lovely Chinese wife Chu-Lin and their children, enmeshed in a dangerous undercover position in Caracas, Venezuela. In short, he was a secret agent. But he’s no 007. Yet thanks to his superior intellect and the few superb CIA skills he acquired, Bret and Chu came out winners of a volatile game of cat-and-mouse involving foremost Chinese and Venezuelan government and military leaders. The Lee’s coveted prize for winning the game -- to get back home to Maryland and enjoy being ordinary citizens again. They were . . . for awhile . . .‘ Pure Van Soye! So where does that take us? The synopsis is excellent, quoted here:
‘Bret Lee, an American college professor, traveling with his wife by plane across China gets kidnapped for ransom at an intermediate stop. When the incompetent thugs holding him are unable to find anyone to redeem their prisoner, they sell Bret to a buyer in Karachi, Pakistan. The buyer turns a quick profit by reselling the captive to the Islamic State, where Bret ends up in a makeshift prison near Raqqah, Syria. He’s put on the auction block for $10 million, with the understanding that if not sold promptly, ISIS will publicly execute him. Later, deep within the Iraqi desert, Bret meets a sexy female Peshmerga fighter returning to Kurdistan from a spy mission. They join forces but are soon challenged by an ISIS patrol. A firefight erupts, the girl is wounded, but somehow Bret gets her to Kurdistan, where they both are treated as heroes. He returns to his home in Maryland where he rejoins his wife, planning to resume teaching. However, they are challenged by a government intelligence boss to return to Syria on a hazardous mission: to stop the civil war and terminate ISIS. Both accept, and leave for Damascus.’
And if that doesn’t lead into Book 3 – then we will all be disappointed. Chuck Van Soye must be enjoying his grow audience. Grady Harp, May 16
Spy Mates
I loved this even when I thought I wouldn't.
By Jay Mittener TOP 1000 REVIEWER on January 16, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
None of us likes to admit it, but we judge books by their cover and this is is .. well cheesy! So I half expected this to be just some tongue in cheek half romance half spy novel.
The cover aside, the book is fantastic! Bret Lee could be any one's brother. The good kid, the rule follower. He is a chemical engineer who ends up in the army as part of his education commitment .. From there we learn a lot about his journey in the military and his romance and life love Chu Lin.
In the end the end up as a due, a pair of spies .. but really they are more like just the good guys keeping an eye on chemical operations in Venezuela. The real story here is that Bret is a family man who loves his wife and his country. We don't see that written very often and it's very refreshing.
It's a short book, the writing is well done, the editing great. I can't wait to read more!
The Renewables
5.0 out of 5 stars A different take on time travel!, January 13, 2014
By
Grady Harp
This review is from: The Renewables (Paperback)
Chuck Van Soye keeps taking on new writing challenges, perhaps influenced by his background of serving as a chemical engineer, a participant in the sales and marketing aspect of business, and as an editor and writer for McGraw-Hill. He has written countless articles on various subjects from fact to fiction, from intrigue to expose of government and prison reform, from armchair musings on life, and now he adds science fiction fantasy to that repertoire. His writing style is straightforward, no pretense, easily readable and accessible, and able to blend intrigue with warm humor.
Van Soye takes a different slant on the concept of time travel and it is a refreshing one. An elderly couple, Clay and Jennie Evans, decide to spend their 54th wedding anniversary in Florida - the oldest city in the US, St. Augustine to be exact, where their sight seeing includes visiting the Fountain of Youth where Ponce De Leon landed in 1513. Taking a tumble into the waters of the fountain results in a transformation for Clay: he awakens the next morning in the body he had as a teenager. Shocked and delighted the couple soon arrange for a similar transformation to happen with Jennie and it is this leap back in time appearance that confuses their family and their own perception of how people's reaction to teenagers differs from that to seniors and results in the investigation of a sect of Renewables that seduces and transports them to Kenya and as their story continues they are caught up in DNA facts and questions, toy with PDL water (`the humanization of monoclonal antibodies and a new generation of targeted treatments for cancer and immunologic diseases'), or as Van Soye relates it, `they're playing with samples of their own DNA, and snipping key fragments embodying the Renewables sequence from them, and then sticking those fragments on ordinary DNA from other donors'. In other words, the experience Clay and Jennie have had is an introduction to a science to enable humanity to enjoy longer lives.
The story gets a bit dodgy at times, but the overriding feeling of it is an escapade by seniors that rivals the current trend in youngsters' obsession with like stories from comic books and games. Just relax with it and go along for the fun ride. Grady Harp, March 14
Yolanda Carter dreams of owning her own bakery. Employed at a cat shelter, she stumbles across a scheme that threatens to close it down. Will her delicious brownies save them?
Book Four in Belinda Lawrence mystery series. Confirming the Professor was murdered proves to be a challenge and, gradually, as they get to know those associated with the Manor House, Belinda and Hazel discover another murder and an intricate web of
