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Books by Chuck
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Whiz Bang LLC
ISBN-10: 1492754234
Type: Fiction
Pages: 232
Copyright: 2012
ISBN-13: 9781492754237
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
Another rip-roaring entry into the genre of Spy Fiction that pits the wits and skills of an American engineer against the oil greed of China.
After 20 years working for the U.S. Army Research Center, Bret Lee, a 44-year-old chemical engineer retires to look for work in private industry, only to learn that in the tough 2010 economy, he’s unable to find a job in his chosen field. But thanks to a quasi-government contact from his past, he’s offered a high-paying job with a Venezuelan fertilizer company just outside Caracas. There’s only one catch; he has to become a spy.
Bret and his Chinese wife, Chu-Lin, accept the challenge, and both become enmeshed in the military, political and diplomatic aspects of life within the most dangerous city of the world. With help from the local CIA and guidance from Washington, Lee uncovers an international plot that could throw all of Latin America into turmoil, and that could strangle strategic oil shipments to the U.S. Life gets even more intense when he finds himself locked up by SEBIN, the intelligence arm of the Venezuelan government.
In a high-stakes game of poker, sometimes a player who has an ace card that only he can see, his “ace in the hole,” will confidently bet big money that he will be the winner of that hand of the game. In the 21st century game of international petroleum supply, China puts big money and a lot more on the table to ensure that it will be the ultimate winner in obtaining Venezuela’s oil production. But the new American spy also has an “ace in the hole,” and his card trumps China’s. The China Oil Plot skillfully blends real-world tensions with a thrilling plot that will keep you enthralled.
Excerpt
As Bret left the car, Pedro’s final words kept bouncing around in his brain, You may well end up confined indefinitely, possibly tortured or even killed. He was betting his life that his CIA friend was wrong.
At least my wife and kids are safe, Bret thought, as he walked up the stone steps leading to the entrance of the massive SEBIN Building, home of Venezuela’s feared internal security agency. On entering the lobby, he was challenged by a guard at the screening machine. “Senor, please state the nature of your business.”
“My name is Bret Lee. I have an appointment with Jorge Fernandez. Would you be so kind as to announce my arrival?”
“Oh, it’s you,” said the guard with a sneer.
Within minutes, two burly casually dressed men arrived in the lobby and addressed him. “Are you Bret Lee?”
“I am.”
The men roughly grabbed Bret by his arms and yanked him into the elevator’s open doors. As soon as the elevator started moving, they twisted those arms painfully behind his back and snapped handcuffs tightly around his wrists, searched him, and removed his wallet.
“Hey guys, said Bret, “I’m cooperating. You don’t have to be so rough with me!
“Ooof,” grunted Bret involuntarily, as a hard blow to his abdomen expelled his breath.
“Shut up, pig spy!” said the punch perpetrator, while Bret doubled over in pain, gasping for air. “If we had our way, you’d already be lying in the alley with a bullet hole between your eyes.”
As if to accentuate his statement, the goon delivered a blow to Bret’s forehead, almost snapping his neck and causing his knees to buckle. A hard yank upwards kept him on his feet.
Bret could feel the blood trickling past his eyebrows and down his cheek. “Do you thugs treat all your visitors this way?” he sputtered sarcastically.
That earned him two painfully sharp jabs to his rib cage, one on each side, followed up by being thrown headlong into an unlit closet-size room. The door slammed behind him, leaving him face-down on a concrete floor in total darkness.
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