The Volchev File - Latest by W. Jack Savage Focuses on the Ukraine Twenty Years Ago!

 

The day he walked into Andre’s in Midtown, all he was hoping for was a brief respite from the heat and his followers. What’ll it be,” asked Andre, a formidable black man with a booming baritone voice.

“Yes, please, could I have a beer and a glass of vodka…a double please.” Andre smiled as he considered Igor. Another white customer who, after his eyes became adjusted to the dark, would probably realize this wasn’t his kind of place. Andre smiled and said, “Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable up the street at Manny’s?”

Igor processed Andre’s question and then said, “Perhaps I could buy you and your customer a drink for any inconvenience my presence might cause?” 

“Ain’t no inconvenience,” said Andre, drawing Igor’s beer. “But you could buy us a drink just to be friendly.” 

“Yes, then please. I will do that,” said Igor with a slight smile. 

After serving Igor, Andre served himself and Robert at the end of the bar, who was watching a baseball game on TV which had just started. They both saluted Igor as they raised their glasses and took a drink. Andre wandered back down the bar toward Igor. “Ya know, began Andre. “I’ve always wondered. When I was a young guy, I was in the army in Kansas. One day I walked into a white bar out near the base, by myself, just to see what would happen, ya know? But I had my uniform on and it was a fort town, so I guess it wasn’t a good test. Anyway, I know why I did it. Nothing happened but over the years, I’ve always wondered why a white man would walk into a bar, see that he was the only white man, because this is Midtown and people walk in here by mistake all the time, you understand, but they always always leave. Anyway, like I said, seeing that he was the only white man and decided to stay. Now, I’m Andre and this is my bar and you’re welcome here if I say you are, understand. But I was just wondering that’s all.” 

“I am being followed…by white men,” said Igor. “If they come in here, I will know the nature, degree of their surveillance. If they do not, at least I can have a drink in peace.” 

At that moment, two white men entered and approached the bar. “What’ll it be?” asked Andre. 

“Two beers,” said the first one. “We just ran outta beer,” said Andre.

(Enjoy the music and the setting. Igor spends a lot of time at Andre's.)

~~~

Following World War II, several independence rebellions took place in the Soviet Union. Throughout the Balkans, The Red Army fought pitched battles with partisan rebels to put down these insurrections. The Soviet MGB State Security apparatus worked internally to infiltrate and destroy the rebels. Other deep cover operatives worked independently of their efforts. Rumors of atrocities on both sides of the conflict were common.

Vorkuta Camp 12 within Arctic Circle 
Where Volchev was Held

Colonel Vitas Marco had been warned, Volchev could be most aggravating.  It didn’t help that they had so much in common.  Both he and the prisoner were of non-Russian origin, skilled in languages, and trained in intelligence.  Volchev’s path led him to prison and the labor camps, while Marco’s had made of him a
rising star in Soviet Intelligence.  

As he studied his file, so it had seemed of Volchev.  That is, until Korosten. ​In thirty minutes, it would be over.  The need for this final debriefing seemed ridiculous.  It seemed more of an administrative task.  Therefore, Marco assumed that somehow, he was being tested.    One could fairly say that might have accounted for his ill-temper that day.  But Volchev had become something of a legend in his confinement.  How he now dealt with this situation would be watched.  Or, perhaps, the lesson of Volchev was being taught to him.  If so, it certainly was in the nature of a warning.  Two things were clear--first, he would be acquainted with both Volchev and his story; and second, if his selection for this task had any further relevance, that would remain to be seen.  

It was July 1975. ​Igor Volchev had defended a pair of Soviet officers in an illegal trial by Ukrainian partisan rebels after World War II.  Many Soviet states had rebellions following the war.  The rebellion in the Ukraine began before the war ended.  Mainline Soviet forces were held in reserve, waiting for the treachery the Soviets anticipated from the British and Americans.  

The rebellion forces were waiting for it, too.  They were forming an infrastructure to support an invasion from the west.  Their reward: Independence following the break-up of the Soviet States...

~~~

Even as WWII was ending, involved countries were working to readjust after all that had happened. The Soviet Union, itself, was being attacked internally as rebellion forces began to seek a permanent separation from the Union. One of those rebellions was by partisan rebels who were taking the opportunity to seek freedom from the totalitarian government... now known as Russia.

Indeed, if you are watching the daily news, you know that Ukraine had succeeded in becoming a separate entity and is now a democratic country! With Russia still trying to recapture the parts of the Soviet Union that became independent... Because of this, the president of Russia has been declared a war criminal and fighting continues, with Russia targeting women, children and moving toward more and more violence daily.

This is not a new situation, as Jack Savage begins his story based upon one single former Red Soldier, Igor Volchev, a former NKGB Colonel, who had returned to Ukraine and taken a position in the judicial district of Malin on the rail line between Kiev and Korosten. 

A raid had occurred led by two Soviet Officers--a raid that took place. However, the details of what happened were to be hidden.  Volchev had been told to write up what happened. He did... The Official Report - It was complete disinformation, albeit eloquent in many ways... The result: instead of being killed like others who were involved, Volchev was imprisoned in the harshest camp, Vorkuta, for life. 

Time passed and men who crave power begin to look for "a story" that can be used in some way... While, at the same time, family of  former military action want to learn more about their relatives and what happened to them. And so it was that a nephew, Edward, found that his uncle had been the writer of The Official Report. And the Report had been accepted as...the Truth!

Suddenly, Volchev was in the spotlight, he was sponsored by an American and brought to live in total freedom... Or so it seemed. Yet, Igor had already determined that he had followers from various agencies...

While I was reading this novel, I had a flashback to a series by James Houston Turner who had created a character called Talanov... I had such fun reading those books and loved the hero character--the link by the way is his created credentials and a short excerpt from one of the books... 

I admit I had the same reaction to Volchev! While in an entirely different way. This is not an action character. Rather, he is just what exactly you would expect for having been in one prison or another for over 20 years! He's very intelligent, yet cautious, with instincts to constantly be on watch, trying to determine exactly what and why whatever was happening would involve... 

He's still an attractive man even after his incarceration! In fact, he really didn't look like he had been in prison--so what happened, readers wonder. Especially, the recent widow who had sponsored Volchev's immigration to America... She watched as Volchev would daily go out for a walk--she assumed it was to acknowledge the freedom of being able to do so. He normally refused the money she offered, even though he had none. She would forced him to recognize his need to have money even to buy a cup of coffee... Yet his independence, his need to remain a loner, was fascinating to her. At that point, she didn't know that he was being followed. Nor do she know that Volchev suspected that there was a reason for his being brought to America, and it wasn't because of the appeals of his family...

Volchev was right to question exactly what was going on! Readers will learn a little more, practically on each page, but just enough to keep us reading.  A little bit historical drama with lots of suspense as we gather the teasers of someone who is living through becoming among the rich and famous, while still maintaining the hesitancy, the fear, the need to be on guard, after being imprisoned for nothing more than writing exactly what he was told to write... I found myself thinking about all the lies that are coming out, even more so these days, because of our social platforms. Still, if you can build on the truth, the reality, you can begin to imagine... the why of being allowed to leave prison and travel to America...

And that's what Jack Savage has given us... Forcing us to stop, pay attention, study the background, locate the power structure and who is in control and where it might be leading... I was hooked because of the tease, the minor moves forward, only to have a complete twist come toward the end that caught me totally off guard.

And full disclosure here... I was a final unpaid proofreader and formatter of this book--not an editor. There was little to be edited since the author had covered everything so well that I became involved with the story, even reading it a second time for content and still not knowing how it would end... As you know, I love that type of book! Savage keeps our interest, and attention... but still manages to surprise us in a drama that is so very much rooted in the political environment that Russia presents to the world today!

I consider this the best of the best for the author. While the plot setting is entirely within the United States, it does reveal the real need to not under-estimate what the Russian government or its representatives is capable of doing, even if it is to just about "one" former Ukrainian Colonel who dared to tell the truth...

A unique perspective of those who are living as citizens in a totalitarian country. It is enlightening to see what happens when those who crave power are willing to move toward gaining what is wanted... It's a timely, yet an alternative drama of living within the power structure of an authoritarian, at any political level... The detail is sufficiently specific to actually feel like you are the investigator striving to solve the puzzle... A Tantalizing mystery!

Author's Note: The earlier cover selected could not be used. This cover is another of paintings by Savage...

Elder Care Tip - I've been enrolled in Walmart's online services which includes shipping, pickup or delivery. I've recently been invited to be a customer representative for this activity. I can already tell you, it has saved me a lot of heartache and worry... I have used all three options and with few problems, I have been very satisfied... If you have any suggestions or concerns, let me know and I'll try to see if my new role includes help with your issues!

James Houston Turner Throws Terrific Thriller in November Echo - How and When Talanov Became A Spy! BRH Favorite Book of 2013!

"So the smiles he gave people stopping by his table were not genuine, not that anyone cared. For one thing, people did not stick around long enough to notice it was a façade. And he knew the reason. In spite of his popularity, he was still KGB.     "In the wake of Noya's death -- which was over six months ago -- he'd become even more cynical and bitter toward the KGB and what it represented. And it took everything within him not to let his feelings be known.
"But he hadn't, and during these months, working undercover as November Echo, he had supplied La Tâche with the names of numerous Soviet moles operating within the United States government and related private sectors. He also supplied him with information on Soviet weapons programs and ongoing intelligence operations.
"He remembered La Tâche asking him once how he could betray his country. He replied that he wasn't betraying his country, only the disease infecting it.  "People should not have to live in fear of their government," Talanov said. "That's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
"This isn't about Russia. This isn't about America. It's about the Noyas of the world. And don't for a second think I won't hold you every bit as accountable as I hold myself and those I'm taking down.
"Does this answer your question?"    
"Talanov remembered how loud the silence was on the phone.
"Then we understand one another," Talanov said, hanging up.
~~~

    November Echo

. By James Houston Turner

Kravenko had been simple and clear:
 slip quietly into Spain and intercept
Dr. Yefim Gorev, a scientist from the
 Soviet Union's weaponized anthrax facility
 at Sverdlovsk, in the foothills of the
 Ural Mountains eight hundred miles
 east of Moscow. But slipping quietly
into Spain was not what they were doing.
 They were doing the exact opposite.
And therein lay the problem.  
Which would not be a problem if he
delivered the goods -- in this case,
Gorev -- and which would be a problem
 if he did not.     Silencing Kravenko's
advisors had not been easy.
 Their argument: that Gorev had
disappeared with his family in
 Leningrad. It therefore made no sense
 for him to cross all of Europe in a risky
 flight to Spain. Helsinki was the
logical choice. Or London. Or some
 northern European city where sanctuary
 was obtainable at any of the American
 Consulates or military bases.
     Talanov's counter-argument had been
 a chain of solid but circumstantial
 evidence pointing to Spain. Back and
 forth they argued, with neither side
 giving an inch. It was a stalemate:
a twenty-eight-year-old KGB colonel
 against five old-school gray-haired
 conservatives in cheap suits and
polyester ties. Having come up through
 the army together, the five advisors
 viewed everyone with disdain and
 suspicion, especially progressives
 like Talanov and Gorbachev. The
 result was a group of individuals as
 antiquated and unimaginative
as the clothes they wore.
~~~

It's not often that I feel a need to go backward in time with a series character...others have written prequels which never seemed to be too much different than another book... but when Turner's fans ask for more information on how Talanov came to be a spy, James Turner gave us much more than information. This is a solid piece of thriller action that is unstoppable from cover to cover. 

The story may even have become my favorite, perhaps because it first shows the United States reps working directly with Talanov.  I think, more, though, there was a focus given on the internal thoughts and feelings of Talanov. And when fans look at the attractive young man he was at 28, after reading this novel, we now know how and why he became the intense ice-man hero that so many of us have come to love in such a short time.

Let me give you another example, out of context...

"Talanov remembered wanting to cry that day. But he did not. Instead, he shoved her memory away just as he shoved his dǎoshī away. The one person he cared about most had been ripped away from him by the only other person he cared about -- his dǎoshī -- who had turned on him like the weather of Khan Tengri, which lures you onto its slopes with its majestic, friendly red afternoon glow, only to trap and kill you. 
"For a while, he tried hating her. It was no use. How can you hate someone who makes you so happy? He just hated the ache that he felt now that she was gone. He hated the ache he felt when he remembered her shy smile and laughing eyes, or that tangle of silky black hair falling in straggly wisps around her face. He hated wanting so desperately to find her but knowing he couldn't. And before leaving the monastery, he vowed never to let anyone make him feel so unhappy and lost again.
"And in that moment, ledyanoĭ chelovek -- the "ice man" -- was born.     Yes, it took every bit of strength that he had not to let them see him cry. And he didn't, nor had he cried since -- ever -- not once.     Until now.     Standing alone on the bow of the freighter, 

So that readers can consider this novel in relation to real activities which actually occurred, I am including an item in the front of the novel, which is very important to correlating the story with what happens in November Echo, which I normally wouldn't do, but will help everybody understand why this novel is so important to me, to others...

1972 -- The Biological Weapons Convention becomes the first multinational treaty prohibiting the production and use of an entire category of weapons. The United States and Soviet Union are among the original twenty-two signatories of this treaty. In compliance, the United States destroys its military stockpiles. The Soviet Union claims to destroy its stockpiles but in fact responds by creating Biopreparat, the largest biological weapons program in history. Over the next few years, forty-seven top-secret installations are built across Russia.

1979 -- "Anthrax 836" spores are accidentally released from military Compound 19 in Sverdlovsk, USSR. Nearly one hundred people die within days although thousands are believed to have perished. Sverdlovsk and the surrounding area is quarantined by the Soviet military. Decontamination trucks arrive. Reports of the incident surface in the West, and the Soviet Union is accused of violating the Biological Weapons Convention. The Soviet Union vigorously denies the accusations by insisting the outbreak was caused by tainted meat. All medical records relevant to the incident are immediately destroyed.

1982 -- Spain joins NATO and announces plans to join the European Economic Community, resulting in violent demonstrations and protests. 1983 -- U.S. President Reagan announces plans for his Strategic Defense Initiative (“ Star Wars”) missile defense system in space. Pershing II missiles are deployed in West Germany. Korean Airliner KAL 007 is shot down by the Soviet Air Force; all crew and passengers are killed. The Soviet leadership is convinced that KAL 007 had been an American intelligence mission. Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union escalate to an all-time high. The Balashikha sabotage and terrorism complex near Moscow is now in full operation.

1985 -- Thousands are now demonstrating across Spain against NATO and the American presence. Violence is everywhere. The Soviet Union's manufacture of biological weapons.

"Sofia responded with an exasperated sigh.
 "Yes, I made the reservation."  
"Which name did you use?"
     "The one you told me to use. But I still
 do not understand what we are doing.
"We are here to catch a defector and you
have me booking a suite in the name of a
ballerina."     "Anna Pavlova is not just
 a ballerina."
    "Stop it, Sasha. What is going on?
 How do we plan to catch Gorev?"
     "Talanov smiled. "Patience, my dear."
     The assignment given to them last Tuesday
 in the office of KGB Deputy Chairman
 Walter Kravenko had been simple and clear:
 slip quietly into Spain and intercept
Dr. Yefim Gorev, a scientist from the
 Soviet Union's weaponized anthrax
 facility at Sverdlovsk, in the foothills of the
 Ural Mountains eight hundred miles east
of Moscow. But slipping quietly into Spain
 was not what they were doing.
They were doing the exact opposite.
And therein lay the problem.  
~~~

Talanov had been sent to find and bring back a family that had disappeared, assumed to be defecting. But what Talanov had not counted on was being given a partner... You see, everybody knew he was the best, and he normally worked on his own with his own plan of action in responding to his assignments--which he always successfully completed. In fact, already had his plan worked out, assuming he'd be on his way shortly...  Until he met Sofia Dubinina, a beautiful woman who he'd never met before and also not worked with! Who was she?

Nevertheless, Talanov went full speed on his plan to get to Spain. He gave instructions to Sofia, and she immediately started with "whys..." No, Talanov didn't trust her, but he was prepared to work with her as long as she followed his instructions. That was apparently not going to happen easily...

His idea, quite simply, was not to slip gently anywhere. He wanted everybody, from every country involved, to know he was in Spain. Sofia seemed to think they might be told to get back home and abort the assignment. That she did not want to have happen... So she quickly fell into place as Talanov's companion, allowed him to dress her in fine clothes, take her to the best restaurants and clubs... In fact, Talanov made sure he had the money for handling this job as he wanted it, simply by doing another thing that he did well... He had Sofia meet him in Spain and on his way, he's already won a substantial amount of money that he carried with him in a small case... And as soon as he was in Spain, they were often seen together, using cash only, with the casino bosses quickly falling to meet Talanov's demands...and constantly winning...

But Talanov knew one thing nobody else did. Where the safe house was where Dr. Gorev would be waiting to meet...

Dr. Gorev had brought his parents, his wife and his daughter. None of them were willing to feel secure until they were safely on their way. Gorev had brought samples of what he'd been forced to work on--Anthrax! Even while the Soviet Union had been one of the countries signing the 1972 agreement to destroy all biological weapons, they had been establishing locations throughout the country for making and testing such weapons. Gorev had been one of the major scientists working to ensure the best possible use of Anthrax and had steadily refined and tested--on prisoners--until he could so longer stand it. He wanted out and asylum for his family!

He had thought Spain would be the best location for meeting, but by the time arrangements were made, the streets on which they would have routinely traveled were now filled with protestors!

Everybody involved--the U.S. who would be meeting the doctor and his family--as well as those searching for Gorev's to either return or kill them, were now forced to also deal with the police who were out in full numbers, dealing with the thousands of protestors who had come into the city...

For readers, we are right in the middle of car chases, gang fights, protestors fighting the police, as well as the need for the United States representatives to successfully meet and get Gorev, et. al., out of Spain!

And one explosive surprise sends Talanov into so much turmoil, frustration, and anger that we also revisit with him as he remembers when he was still free to feel--when he was not the ice man that they now called him... What was it? A teenager, named Noyabŕ, Noya, Dr. Gorev's daughter who, upon meeting them and for most of the time, displayed no emotions, only hopelessness, that anything would ever work out...

And it was beginning to look like she was right, especially when she stood and watched as her grandparents were murdered...first...

OMG, I don't know how some authors do it, but James Houston Turner certainly has the skill to wrap readers around his fingers, tied up in every word, emotionally, mentally, and sometimes even physically involved as the action gets so tense that we don't realize that, after all, it's just a book, fiction... Yet, he does it! And he shows true facts upon which his fictional thrills are based. Some could even be true...but reading about it or even seeing it in the news just does not bring us the most important thing...context... Turner brings us right into the streets as he faces gang members with knives or even into the house--that house that was supposed to have been safe...

But there is no safety to be found...

Talanov Rules! He's my hero! But Turner? I think even Talanov worries about him...Read November Echo by James Houston Turner!

"Let me understand this, Turner...You want me to do WHAT?!!!"

GABixlerReviews!

James Houston Turner is the bestselling author of the Aleksandr Talanov thriller series, as well as numerous other books and articles. Talanov the fictional character was inspired by the actual KGB agent who leaked word out of Moscow back in the 1980s that James was on a KGB watchlist for his smuggling activities behind the old Iron Curtain.

James Houston Turner's debut thriller, Department Thirteen, was voted the Best Thriller of 2011 by USA Book News, after which it won gold medals in the 2012 Independent Publisher ("IPPY") Book Awards and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

A cancer survivor and former journalist in Los Angeles, he holds a Bachelor's Degree from Baker University and a Master's Degree from the University of Houston (Clear Lake). After living in South Australia for nearly twenty years, he and his wife, Wendy, a former triathlon winner, now live in Austin, Texas. Visit his website at www.talanov.info.

James Houston Turner Has A Winner in Greco's Game!

English: Book by Gioachino Greco
(c. 1600 – c. 1634) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"Agent Foley kept complaining about being locked in  trunk of car, so I could not hear very much. But I did hear them laugh and say, 'Shah i mat!'"
"Checkmate," said Talanov, translating... "Many of us in the KGB were chess fanatics,"explained Talanov. "Ilya was, and I was, but I'm not sure about Borzakov. I don't remember him in any of the classes."...We studied the strategy of chess," answered Talanov, "and were graded, secretly, by the great Mikhail Botvinnik...
"Greco's Game!" said Larisa, "They mentioned Greco's Game--Greko igry..."

Greco's Game:
 Redemption at
 a Price


By James Houston Turner


If you are a chess enthusiast, then you probably already knew about Gioachino Greco, I had not. I also didn't know that the Soviet Union had been so involved with playing chess that they often used chess terms just like Americans use football or other sports terms as they converse with others. So, aside from the storyline, I thoroughly enjoyed the interweaving of chess terms that probably were contained in the classic book by Greco published as early as 1625. Not being a chess player, I had to just follow the clues and see if I could figure out what was happening in this exciting and sometimes terrifying second novel in the Aleksandr Talanov series.

Terrifying, because the very first thing that happens is that Andrea, his wife is murdered!

Welll, we also meet Tash as Talanov remembers his night before... "He could still see Tash jumping from the bed... contemptuous at his inability to "do it." That, of course, was not surprising if you had read  Department Thirteen. Talanov had been taught not to allow love into his life during his time with the KGB. Now he was not only feeling guilty for never being able to truly commit to Andrea, but his guilt increased because he felt Andrea had been killed instead of him!

Tash was now gone, but so was his wallet, money and watch! He got dressed and quickly went back to the bar where they had met, but had a hard time getting back in. Let me just say that Talanov did his thing and soon was sitting down across from Tash...

Then an interesting thing happened, besides the fighting, etc...

Tash was touched greatly when Talanov refused her return of his money, explaining that he wanted his only picture of his wife that was in the wallet. Women readers will quickly realize that Talanov now had another woman setting her eyes and desires on Talanov, while most men were probably calling Talanov stupid for leaving the $2 thousand laying on the table...Right?

But Talanov was not going to be able to leave the bar to get his wallet...and soon was passed out being taken to the hospital, where he knew to "play dead" from interacting with the doctors. So when Tash and her friend made the decision to return his wallet with the picture, she was there driving up outside when Talanov escaped, still wearing the hospital gown that left him, ahhh, exposed...


I admit that Turner's decision to write on human trafficking, especially young girls, got my attention quickly and personally. It's a deplorable world that we live in where there is more "money" in this than other criminal activities! While I love mystery, suspense and other thriller books, I really would like to believe it was only happening in books! So I applaud whenever an author centers in on exposing this horrendous activity!

But, of course, we who have already "fallen" for Talanov as a hero extraordinaire, know that he will do much to stop trafficking, especially out of the Soviet Union countries. He had long been exposed to what that government had become--he was not about to allow the many former KGB men who had now become part of mafia activities, to hurt the people he had once fought to help!

Talanov quickly learned from Tash that there were many more young girls who had been lied to in coming to America and then being forced into prostitution. Tash, whose real name was Larisa had been a nurse and quickly put her skills into helping Talanov get back to better health... Then, as well, gave him much more...

Quickly thereafter, Talanov began facing the men behind the human trafficking. But it was not easy--there was no way to know who was involved! It had been years since he had relocated and men who he'd known through the KGB at that time, might now play a far different role! Let Talanov take you into the Russian Mafia like only James Houston Turner can, mostly based upon his acting as a smuggler and carrier during the Cold War. The reality may parallel much of what you read in the newspapers, but nobody can tell it like Turner, "the King of the Cliffhanger" as Glenda Shaw said... (Of course, I had to get that quote from the back cover) in here...there are so few Glenda's out there! LOL

This soft-spoken man, now living in Australia, has shared with me that he may be moving back to America! Here's one new fan that things that it would be soooo cool to once again claim him as one of our finest writers here in the U.S.


GABixlerReviews

A Native of Kansas, James turned to writing fiction as a result of his years as a smuggler behind the old Iron Curtain. He has been on a KGB watchlist, organized secret midnight meetings with informants, located hidden mountain bunkers, and investigated legends of forgotten tunnels beneath the cobblestones and bricks of some of Central Europe's most venerated cathedrals.

A former journalist in Los Angeles, he holds a Bachelor's Degree from Baker University and a Master's Degree from the University of Houston - Clear Lake. He and his wife, Wendy, a former triathlon winner, live in Adelaide, South Australia.

I especially enjoyed Turner's "James"page on his web Site and thought my other readers would enjoy this quote:

As a journalist in Los Angeles,  he interviewed numerous inner-city residents of the famed Union Rescue Mission. Over 130 of his stories were published in their magazine, Lifeline. During this time, he also attended two National Prayer Breakfasts with the President of the United States and members of Congress, yet at other times found himself so poor he had to live on jars of peanut butter given to him by a church.

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Please Welcome Character Aleksandr Talanov to BRH!

Inspired by the actual KGB informant who leaked word out of Moscow that James was on a KGB watchlist, former KGB informant, Aleksandr Talanov has become James Houston Turner's signature protagonist in the Talanov Thriller Series. He made his debut in Comfort Publishing's 2011 bestseller, Department Thirteen.

TALANOV PROFILE   STATS: NAME: Aleksandr "Alex" Mikhailevich Talanov KGB RANK: ColonelDATE OF BIRTH: February 04, 1958 HEIGHT: 6'1" (185.42cm)WEIGHT: 172 lbs (78.02 kg)HAIR: Brown, with touch of gray at the templesEYES: Brown PERSONALITY: Strong Aquarius personality: smart, enterprising, loves puzzles and dilemmas and finding unique solutions to problems; inventive and thinks outside the box; a realist (tends to look at the glass as being half full, but knows glasses are easily broken); thrives on processing information; curious and alert but often cold, calculating and indifferent to the emotional needs of others. An early morning runner and avid student of chess, Talanov is fluent in English (American, British) Russian, Ukrainian, German, Spanish, andFrench. Committed and loyal, he enjoys spicy food (paella and pizza), fast cars, cold vodka and passionate music. BACKGROUND: Since his youth, Talanov was destined to be part of the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti -- the Committee for State Security -- or the internal security and foreign intelligence agency of the old Soviet Union. His father, Mikhail Ivanevich Talanov, was reportedly killed when he was an infant, with his addict mother, Nina, dying from a narcotics overdose when he was four. Alex was subsequently handed over to his elderly maternal grandparents, who lived in a ninth floor Moscow flat. The grandparents, however, couldn't cope, so he was turned over to State minders, who immediately noticed his athletic and educational abilities and placed him in the Komsomol -- the Communist Youth Organization -- where he would be taught the fighting and philosophical skills needed to advance him to the KGB. It was here that he was taught Combat Sambo, where he rose to the rank of Black Belt, his instructor preferring the traditional belt system of rating over the cumbersome "razryad" system most sambists employed. It was also here that he learned how love was a weakness and vulnerability that an enemy could exploit. It was here, at age sixteen, that he became known as Ledyanoĭ chelovek -- the “ice man” -- cold, calculating, charming and capable, yet possessing an unusual idealism about fairness, which his minders fed with Communist propaganda about the evils and decadence of the West. Feeding on their words like a carnivore feeds on flesh, Talanov was rewarded with entrance into the Surveillance College in Leningrad, where his achievements resulted in an appointment to the analysis section of Directorate 7 (responsible for the monitoring of Soviet nationals and foreigners). His contributions in the area of surveillance and security soon led to a promotion to Directorate 9 (the KGB Protection Service, which included the 40,000-man uniformed bodyguard for Party leaders and families, as well as the protection of government installations, especially those containing nuclear weapons). In Directorate 9, he was mentored by the great Dimitri Lazovic, who chose him to coordinate the physical protection of Party leadership. It was here that Talanov came to the attention of Yuri Andropov, whose appreciation for saving his life resulted in his being selected for the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. After graduating, he was promoted to the rank of colonel -- the youngest in KGB history -- and assigned to The First Chief Directorate, which was responsible for foreign espionage and KGB operations abroad. Segmented into eleven geographical regions, the First Chief Directorate saw to the placement of intelligence officers in legal positions in embassies and elsewhere abroad. Talanov oversaw those assignments as well as provided analytical support to various sub-directorates and services, as well as personal assistance to Andropov on a number of secret assignments. Talanov was not sure when the cracks began to appear, but appear they did in Department Thirteen: "Why did we get married?" Andrea asked. "What do you mean?" She turned toward him. "You romanced me like there was no tomorrow, and we end up having this fabulous whirlwind marriage. But that's as far as it went." Talanov did not reply. "We're little more than strangers, Alex. And you seem happy to keep it that way." "I think you're overreacting." "People are trying to kill us! And you think I'm overreacting? Talk to me, Alex." Talanov massaged a dull ache in his forehead. The pressure was getting to him. "Tell me about your world," she said. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" "I think it's time, don't you?" After working a pillow into place, Talanov settled back and for half an hour explained how the KGB had trained assassins, terrorists, and deep cover agents at its Balashikha complex, near Moscow. "Communism on paper is what attracted my idealistic hopes: equality for all, freedom from oppression...that sort of thing. But over time, I became aware of all the things I had not been taught: that communism outside the classroom was really state capitalism ...the government's elite taking from others what they wanted for themselves. It's why communism can never work, and why I began helping the CIA bring it down...not that anyone in Washington cared." "You sound cynical." "I am. Trouble is, there are men out there with guns for whom these lofty ideals don't matter one bit." "It appears they matter a great deal. The question is, why?" Talanov's disillusionment led him to become November Echo, the legendary KGB deep cover informant who supplied the CIA with intelligence on KGBactivities during the Cold War. For his service over the course of several years, Talanov was paid US $1.3 million by William Erasmus "Bill" Wilcox -- codename La Tâche -- the CIA branch chief in the American Embassy, in London. Talanov quietly invested the money in offshore accounts, thus enabling him to settle in Australia at the end of the Cold War as a multi-millionaire. It was in Australia that he met and married Andrea, who was the owner of Elegant Cuisine, a catering company, although his inability to return his wife's love was the cause of many problems. The couple lived in the swank Sydney suburb of Mosman until killers firebombed his house and burned it down. Within months of those events (chronicled in Department Thirteen), Talanov convinced his wife to move with him to Los Angeles in an attempt to find anonymity and peace (Greco's Game). Tragically, that peace was short-lived. Talanov and Andrea in Scene from Department Thirteen...

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Talanov! Read James Houston Turner!

Department Thirteen

By James Houston Turner

Department Thirteen, the USA Book News "Best Thriller of 2011" and book #1 in the Talanov thriller series, wins a gold medal the 2012 Independent Publisher ("IPPY") Book Awards (thriller/suspense), AND a gold medal in the 2012 Indie Book Awards (action/adventure), with author JAMES HOUSTON TURNER flying to New York to attend the award ceremonies. 


Wow! Talanov is "something else!" For the men, he's a role model, maybe even of what you should not become... For women, he is so cool that we want to "break through" the hard shell that he seems to have surrounding him--we know, or hope, that there's something more deep inside...

But his wife, Andrea, had given up on really having true intimacy with him. Still she loved him and stayed...

Talanov realized that he didn't know how to love his wife. In fact, he didn't know how to love anybody--he had been "taught" not to! Aleksandr Talanov was now retired as a KGB colonel, living in Australia. He had been a greatly respected member who held the trust of many. But there were also those who had hated him...

The Cold War had ended and the United States had won. Most of the power of the former Soviet Union was gone, but a former hidden group was still operating and they had a reason for wanting Talanov dead...

And a team of assassins had been sent to do just that...

The Talanovs were hosting a large party at their home. Andrea had a fine reputation through her catering business and it was usual to host events there. At this one, there were many former KGB members as well as local friends. It was toward the end of the event and Alex and Andrea had escaped outside to walk along the shore.

It was at that time that the assassins struck, killing everybody that remained in their house...

Of course, Talanov knew that they had come for him... Andrea was shocked, but followed him as Alex entered a small hidden room that she had never known existed, continuing to ask questions, while he, using equipment there, listened in on a call to the police from an unidentified informant that claimed that Talanov had just killed all of the guests at his home!

There was no choice--Talanov went on the run, knowing that he had to find out who was behind this...

"Andropov glanced up at Talanov. "General
Timoshkin does not appreciate your precautions,
Aleksandr. Would you care to tell him why?"
"Talanov looked directly at Timoshkin. "Because
General, you have allowed your office to be
penetrated."
"What?"
"Electronic intercepts have been discovered
on your telephones, thanks to a fondness your
Senior Lieutenant Gagarin has for a woman
with a drug addiction...an addiction cultivated
by Western agents..."
~~~
"To those in this room," the blond stranger
began..."Perestroika refers to a deeper, more
comprehensive restructuring than has been
even to the President.
"Our vision is not merely one of reform, but
of acquisition and control on a global scale...

Through the Prologue, readers learn that Talanov had arranged an important meeting in 1983 for Yuri Andropov. One man entered late that was not known by Alex. He wondered if he was Department Thirteen, a small group of agents who were so deep that few knew who they were. Talanov wondered who was going to be assassinated. Then later watched it happen! But the stranger had more to do, and it was then that Talanov was excused from participating in that meeting... He never learned what had happened or had been planned...

Now, Talanov found himself backtracking through years, trying to catch up with what had happened at that meeting so long ago. But, first, he had to find some place safe for he and Andrea!

Because he had just learned that General Timoshkin had been assassinated and with his dying breath, he had called Talanov and managed to say, "Second Thirteen...Poisoned...to keep...me from--."

Turner takes his readers directly into the Cold War, but seeing it from the side of those most intimately involved, the KGB. He does this not just from research, but as a smuggler behind the Iron Curtain! Inspired by the actual KGB informant who leaked word out of Moscow that James was on a KGB watchlist, former KGB informant Aleksandr Talanov has become James Houston Turner's signature protagonist in the Talanov Thriller Series.

You know, I get excited just reading the background of how James got started writing. Check out his web site to read his "too ugly" story...

That type of story, though heartwarming, does not necessarily guarantee that somebody can write... But, Turner's words actually bristled with excitement for me. Not only is he an excellent writer, but he is a gifted thriller writer who produces an action-packed novel that readers can grab with their teeth and hold on for the ride he gives! I love when I can't stop reading because of the suspenseful tension, but also learn more about historical events! James Houston Turner has the background to give us both in a literary manner that leaves you breathlessly wanting more...

And, it's already available! Watch for my review of Greco's Game!


GABixlerReviews

A Native of Kansas, James turned to writing fiction as a result of his years as a smuggler behind the old Iron Curtain. He has been on a KGB watchlist, organized secret midnight meetings with informants, located hidden mountain bunkers, and investigated legends of forgotten tunnels beneath the cobblestones and bricks of some of Central Europe's most venerated cathedrals.

A former journalist in Los Angeles, he holds a Bachelor's Degree from Baker University and a Master's Degree from the University of Houston - Clear Lake. He and his wife, Wendy, a former triathlon winner, live in Adelaide, South Australia.

You may visit him at www.jameshoustonturner.com.

Charles Anderson Shares Santa is Very Sick...

English: Thomas Nast's most famous drawing, "Merry Old Santa Claus", from the January 1, 1881 edition of Harper's Weekly. Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus' current look with an initial illustration in an 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly, as part of a large illustration titled "A Christmas Furlough" in which Nast set aside his regular news and political coverage to do a Santa Claus drawing. The popularity of that image prompted him to create another illustration in 1881. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BRH is helping to spread the word...but...YOU can help! To the right, you'll see Dr. Anderson's picture! Click on that picture and "start following" Dr. Anderson's blog and comment on one or more of his articles...Please leave contact info because 20 randomly selected individuals will receive a copy of one of his books! If you have a preference, ask for it! Don't forget he'll need an address where the book should be sent!

In the history of mankind, no nation with a fiat currency (a currency not backed by something of value, like gold) has been able to resist the temptation to inflate its currency to benefit certain parties. There is really no difference between the government stealing from future taxpayers to benefit corporations, or industries, or farmers, or green energy and stealing from taxpayers present and future to pay for entitlements. It is still stealing. 

The leaders in a democracy must derive their power continuously from the consent of the people. That is one of the purposes of having a budget, and for having our elected legislators vote on it in real time. Our founding fathers envisioned patriotic Americans rotating through Congress, keeping it honest. Instead we prefer that every Congressman and Senator stay in Washington for the longest possible time. Why? The longer you stay, the more Santa Claus money you can send back home. Santa Claus money allows governments to tax future taxpayers without their consent. Wasn’t taxation without representation the principle issue that our founding fathers found so intolerable that they organized a revolution?

This Santa Claus money has robbed our nation of its self-reliance and industriousness. It now encourages class warfare. When Obama says that taxes need to be dramatically raised on the rich to benefit the poor, he is ignoring the fact that even if he took every dime from the rich, he could not balance our budget and service our debt at the same time without drastically cutting existing entitlements. He does not say that the absorption of all that capital by the government hurts real businesses, which create real jobs, and pay real wages and taxes. We already have the highest corporate tax rates in the world, driving businesses to other countries and actually lowering total tax revenue collected. We are watching European countries even now come to grips with their addiction to borrowed money. We not only borrow money, we create it with a stroke of a computer and print some more when we need it. That’s one big reason we have been able to avoid disaster as long as we have. No other country in the world has the capacity or the gall of the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve to ignore all honest accounting practices and all checks and balances to manipulate markets, interest rates, and money supply.

The current president appeals to class warfare and envy in order to take everyone’s eye off of the basic systemic dishonesty in our government. I believe that inequality of income in America is shameful. The greediness of CEOs in America is egregious. All of this was made possible by a dishonest government giving handouts and tax breaks to its friends with Santa Claus money. But this is a side issue that, even if reversed tomorrow by paying every CEO $1 per year, we could not balance our budget or pay off our debt. I’m afraid I would be tossed out of a Republican rally or a Democratic rally.

Most Americans will gladly look away from Europe and believe that it can’t happen to us. They have forgotten that the mighty Soviet Union went down the same path that America is on until its currency was worthless. Did it matter that they spent printed money trying to keep up with Ronald Reagan’s defense buildup, or their war with Afghanistan, or for socialist programs? Of course not. The Soviet empire crashed. Americans, rich and poor, want to continue to game the system at the expense of taxpayers in the future and other countries using Santa Claus money. This is nothing new. It has ruined countries and civilizations for more than 2000 years. For example, I don’t care if you are a fireman or a teacher or a policeman or a garbage collector or a paramedic. You did not earn a pension that equals or exceeds your yearly salary when you retire early. If you have such a deal, you got it because governments and unions agreed to rip off those people who are not employed by some level of government. I put in 38 years of incredibly stressful work in trauma centers and emergency departments and the government never provided me with such benefits. I didn’t expect them to.

Whatever the government chooses to subsidize in the name of “help” creates a dependency class. Many middle class Americans would rather have two years of unemployment benefits than a job. So many Americans want to be paid for contributing nothing to society. Do you believe that the number of truly disabled Americans increased five-fold since 2008, or that many people will use any excuse to game the system if Santa Claus money is freely available? Since the war on poverty began in the 1960s, we have spent trillions of dollars subsidizing single mothers. What incentive does she have to get married or finish her education or get a job when she would lose eight different types of government aid by doing so?

Some say that having 47 per cent of Americans now on some type of government assistance is not doing enough. Others think that allowing families to earn up to $47,000 without paying any federal taxes is not enough help. Our president has already stated publicly that he did not care if taxing the rich produced any increase in government revenue. He knew that the rich would avoid the taxes with loopholes paid for by Santa Claus money. He wanted to do this out of “fairness.” He wanted to punish rich people because they are successful. It doesn’t matter to him how they earned their money, or that without these rich people, there would be no non-government employers.

In Obama’s view, the government should decide who is successful. This level of class warfare and abandonment of the family values of our past, as well as our Constitution, is unprecedented from a president of the United States. Of course big business and big banks and Wall Street are corrupt. Our government caused much of this corruption with Santa Claus money. Real capitalism, not adulterated by phony, stolen, borrowed, or created money from the government is the best system for prosperity that man has ever created. We are now more socialist than capitalist. Just look at where big government has brought us.

The fact is that the fifty-three per cent of Americans who do pay taxes are way overtaxed and over-regulated. The problem in America has never been the lack of taxation. It has always been a lack of control over spending. Of course Mr. Romney wants to keep his tax returns private. He has used every tax break and loophole financed by Santa Claus money to pay the least amount of taxes possible. Although Obama has a socialist agenda and Romney has a capitalist agenda, it no longer matters. They are both liars, neither one willing to tell America that recovery from addiction is going to be painful. Our creditors are not going to let us continue to turn out Santa Claus money much longer. If you follow this blog, I will tell you why.

I am a physician. In an ideal world without Santa Claus money I would like the concept of nationalized single-payer health insurance on one condition. We should pay for it as we go. Is it too much to ask that the government make the necessary decisions to balance our budget? When we pay as we go, we have to make those difficult decisions that Santa Claus money allows government and individuals and families to avoid indefinitely. We have avoided making any rules limiting the amount of money that can be spent on an elderly person who is dying. We spend more money on lost causes than any nation on this earth.

The government doesn’t want to be attacked by every person who wants to live to be 100. Families often want everything done for elderly parents and grandparents, no matter how futile it is. These kinds of decisions can be avoided by everybody if the government prints more money and pays for doctors, medications, nurses, mechanical ventilators, and dialysis for everyone to live the last three months of their life in an intensive care unit. Santa Claus money doesn’t require honest discussion about end of life issues. I’m not advocating euthanasia. I’m calling for a return to sanity in healthcare, spending the money we can afford where it will do the most good. I want an honest president to face the cameras and tell America that we cannot have all of the medical care we want at government expense using Santa Claus money.

All social programs would have to be drastically reduced to afford Obamacare as a pay as you go program. Adding another gigantic Santa Claus program now, without making the drastic cuts necessary in our bloated budget, simply increases the size and control of government over us all, and hastens our financial Armageddon.

How many addicts are going to vote for someone who pledges to cut off their Santa Claus money? What possible incentive due the 47% who pay no federal taxes have to vote for someone who pledges to cut taxes? There is no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats on the most critical issue of all, Santa Claus money. Neither wants the pain of withdrawal. Neither wants to tell Americans that we face gigantic cuts in all government programs once the election is over regardless of who is elected. Why?

It is impossible to borrow your way out of debt. We know that instinctively, but we keep doing it because we are addicts. Our government keeps throwing stolen money after stolen money. All of the bailouts in this country and all of the bailouts in Europe will ultimately fail, each bailout making the final collapse more painful. Nobody wants to hear this. I don’t know who will win this election, but the winner will be the man who organizes the most addicts of Santa Claus money. Obama has a real advantage here, since he can create dependency groups by decree.

Not only can he create new dependency classes, the Federal Reserve has long ago crossed every line of honesty to keep the country from crashing before the election. We have been in the twilight zone of corruption since 2008. There is no level of dishonesty and fraud that our government will not stoop to in order to keep the music going. Even the dying European countries are laughing at America’s creative financing. Countries in Europe would not sink to our level of deceit even to keep their country viable. We have been committed to continuous rounds of “stimulus” with Santa Claus money. Think of a dying patient who needs a larger shot of epinephrine every five minutes to stay alive. Not one American in a hundred could explain how our government could possibly buy its own bonds with money it printed in its own mint. Our Federal Reserve has been doing this since 2008, trillions of dollars of bonds, to manipulate the global bond market and lower long term interest rates. This is called quantitative easing. Since the FED cannot lower interest rates to less than zero, they can only try to hold them down by manipulating the bond market. Don’t you love Fed-speak?

In the Fed’s first round of QE (quantitative easing) in 2008 through early 2010, it bought $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities and $300 billion of Treasury securities and debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Does it bother you that our Federal government “owns” the majority of all mortgages in America now? In the second round of QE in 2010 and 2011, the Fed bought $800 billion of U.S. treasury bonds. A third round of QE is planned for later this year, sooner if necessary. Wait, there’s more. If the stock market begins to falter, the FED has a plan to buy stocks and stimulate a “recovery.” As one person in a FED meeting commented, “Buying stocks during an election year would favor the incumbent President.”

Somebody recently pointed out to the FED that it was not authorized to buy stocks. No problemo. They buy them through “intermediaries,” says Bernanke. Imagine how much money the intermediary can make knowing in advance that he is going to buy billions of dollars of stocks with Santa Claus money. To minimize the profit to any one brokerage, they would buy indexed funds and raise the entire market. Of course, many index funds are weighted by capitalization. A novice would know which stock in any index would profit the most.

The most important thing to know about the stock market is when to buy and when to sell. If you are a Wall Street insider, you know exactly how to play this game with the Fed. Before TARP funds were handed out, the government reportedly told Goldman Sachs exactly what they planned to do in advance. Goldman Sachs executives reportedly pocketed millions of dollars from this advance information. Any bull market between now and the election would not be the first time the FED has created a bubble in the stock market, or the first time it has bought stocks through intermediaries. It is clear that our government does illegal things, and then quietly passes a law to make what they have already done legal. Wall Street banks don’t represent real capitalism. They represent crony capitalism and the rape of the American individual investor.

Every time the FED creates money and injects it into the world, it further devalues the dollar. Countries holding the dollar or dollar assets are screwed. Commodity prices worldwide are being driven up while the FED creates yet another bubble in the bond market by buying its own bonds. I’d be getting a little “fed-up” if I lived outside the United States. Why is it that almost all nations on earth continue to buy U.S. treasuries even though they yield one per cent or less? This is something you really need to understand because it is the source of much of our Santa Claus money. Do other nations really feel their money is safer in America than anywhere else? Do you know which country on this planet really holds the fate of the United States in its hands? This country could send America into a financial death spiral in one day if it wanted to. I’ll give you a hint. It’s not China. Let me explain. Next week.

Charles C. Anderson