Product Description
Set in largely the Philippines against a geopolitical backdrop of the Soviet buildup at former American bases in Vietnam and potential loss of American bases at Subic and Clark, the tale paints a fiction-based-on-fact alternative end for the corrupt Marcoses and for the future of Philippine democracy. Paul Steele, rouge American banker, decides to end the Marcos regime by stealing their money while astutely disengaging his bank from the fall 1983 financial crisis. Roman Menchaka, Filipino General and closet leftist, is bent upon sidelining Imelda Marcos and others to succeed old man Marcos when he finally dies or is forced from power. Steele and Menchaka are on a collision course due to their pursuit of the same woman, the alluring Techy, and because the General stumbles upon Steeles' plan for the Marcos money. As the Philippines edges toward political and financial disaster, the general edges closer to power and to the banker. There are incredible action scenes: CIA car hurtling through Manila's Chinatown; plane downed by shoulder-held missiles; and the final moments of assassination of Ninoy Aquino at Manila's airport. There is electronic theft in a time when computers capable of such things were only in the hands of bankers like Steele. Told through the eyes of Paul's twin brother Danton, a Fellow at the DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, who is drawn into the action after his brother goes missing in Manila, Wade builds tension and suspense as he sets the scene for the theft in Reagan-era Washington, then in Kashmir, Singapore, and locations across the Philippines. Wade weaves passion and compassion into colorful characters and provides frequent glimpses into the culture of the Philippines and other exotic locales, as the tale races to a startling, explosive climax.
