Crude Deception: A Novel. Gordon Zuckerman. Greenleaf Book Group Press. June 2011. 288 pp. pb. ISBN #: 9781608321438.Crude Deception is the second book in The Sentinels series. The Sentinels are a group of well-connected people who perform various missions that protect American interests on a global basis. They discover that the major oil companies in America have formed a monopoly that will ever prevent anyone from entering the market in any part of the world. The difference to take note is that this takes place in the 1950s, and the story seems to really be about the formation of OPEC, an irony indeed considering its power and sphere of influence today.
However, to take one back to the time of this novel, the Sentinels come to experience the same government officials, lobbyists, business CEOs, etc. who are in the pockets of the major oil companies. The President and other officials have a better idea, to create an agency that will open up the market to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. It takes considerable risk for Jacques and Claudia Roth, as well as Mike Stone and Cecilia Chang, to begin the intelligence, form a plan, travel to places yielding financial support, and so on in order for their plan to develop.
As they inch forward each step, the threats change to life and death attacks. For the "Oil Club," as it is known, is more powerful than ordinary citizens realize and just as immoral and illegal in many of its actions guaranteeing its continued monopoly.
To say more would be a spoiler. Suffice to say, Crude Deception is an action-packed, intelligent adventure into the world of big business with some espionage, intelligence and counter-intelligence to exhilarate readers galore. Finely crafted story that reads more like reality than fiction!
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