Voices Behind the Curtain , livre ebook

DSI Publications - Gordon Zuckerman

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

190 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

In 1946, peak military industrial contracting has been cut by 400 billion dollars. Some of the same industrial organizations responsible for creating a military arsenals capable of supplying six different wars on four separate continents have become concerned. The economic impact of converting their-war time manufacturing to peace-time production represents risks they are not willing to accept. A consortium of these companies determine they must find a new way to restore the lost military contracting. Their plan calls for them to manipulate the Congressional military appropriations process for their own self-interests.Hearing of the plot, the Sentinels decide to challenge. "Voices Behind the Curtain" is a story about powerful and resourceful people, those who endeavor to implement their plan of corruption, and those who oppose. Jacques Roth and Mike Stone return to lead the Sentinel opposition and devise a plan capable of opposing one of the world's largest conglomerates.Meet Miss Mercedes, a former Miss Universe winner, who's ambition to become a celebrated actress have led to her downfall. Follow her life as she re-invents herself and influence those around her.Natalie Cummins, the retired star of the London and New York musical stages, is determined to use her entertainment experience to find British employment for "Back Listed" Hollywood actors, writers and directors. Marco Tanfredi and Don Cerreta, two second-generation Sicilians, who have learned to it is necessary to resist the 'temptations of the street', if they wish to pursue their American Dream" The reader is allowed to ride side-saddle with these principal characters as they proceed to protect the integrity of Congressional Appropriations process. Their journey leads them through the entertainment industry in Mexico, Southern California, London and New York.

Sujets

Thriller

Informations

Publié par	DSI Publications
Date de parution	02 janvier 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780998007021
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0450€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

V OICES B EHIND THE C URTAIN
by
Gordon Zuckerman
Copyright © 2016, Gordon R. Zuckerman
ISBN: 978-0-9980070-0-7 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-0-9980070-1-4 (softcover)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936864
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Printed in the United States of America.
O THER T ITLES B Y G ORDON Z UCKERMAN
Fortunes of War Crude Deception Matter of Importance
PREQUEL
FAREWELL SPEECH: President Dwight D. Eisenhower January 20, 1961
“The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is a new American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every state house, and every office of the federal government . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
“As we peer into society ’ s future, we — you and I and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.”
PREFACE
I T ’ S J ANUARY 1948. T HE S ECOND W ORLD W AR CONCLUDED MORE THAN 2 years ago. Believing the world has fought its last Great War, and unaware of or unconcerned about Russia’s potential emergence as a new world power, the American public is preoccupied with getting married, having children, spending its pent-up wartime savings, and looking for peacetime work.
Meanwhile, defense spending has dropped by $400 billion, or 67 percent of peak wartime spending limits. It’s a drop that has some powerful people concerned. In recent years, New York commercial and investment bankers and military contractors have been convening regularly in secret. Carefully guarded meetings have been conducted to discuss how to cushion the adverse economic effects of America’s shift from wartime production to the manufacture of consumer goods.
Not even the most optimistic among the Wall Street investment managers believe proposed solutions—selling off surplus capacity, retooling plants to manufacture peacetime consumer products, and generating postwar demand—will be adequate to offset the economic consequences. Something has to be done. That’s why, on this bitterly cold day at the start of 1948, they decide to retain the law firm of Southwick & Cornforth. They expect its managing partner, J. Jordan McWilliams, to develop an imaginative and comprehensive plan needed to address the urgency of the situation and present it for their approval at the earliest possible date.
PROLOGUE The Sentinels Gather
(Ten Months Later)
N EW Y ORK , N OVEMBER 1948
The jungle drums registering concern over the latest developments in the fast-rising world of anti-Communist campaigning are beating more loudly. The tide of the public’s growing fear of the spreading threat of Communism is rapidly rising.
Jacques and Mike, the European and American Sentinel leaders, via transatlantic telephone, have been exploring possible corporate agendas in play and the evidence that a new Power-Cycle type threat may be forming.
Mary Wheeler Clarke’s sources—former generals now consulting with military contractors—continued to give her reports on the ramped-up plans for increased defense spending.
Marco Tancredi has reported on the situation from his unique vantage point: Members of his late-night office cleaning staff have been separating the discarded executive notes of the members of Manuel’s Club they have discovered in the trash they are required to remove each night.
Walt Matthews, the nationally syndicated columnist for the New York Times, has been reporting the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee with increasing frequency . . .
Natalie’s transatlantic casting program, “Natalie’s Bridge,” widely regarded as a brave effort to identify English employment for out-of-work, blacklisted Hollywood personalities, has caught the attention of the American public.
It had been decided that an all-hands meeting of the Sentinels was needed to organize a plan of opposition. The scheduled dinner in the Stones’ spacious Upper Eastside New York apartment represented the first time all 14 would be called together.
By seven o’clock on the appointed evening, everyone had arrived, been offered their drink of choice, and had sampled Cecelia’s magnificent array of Oriental hors d’oeuvres. With drinks in hand and nibbling on the marvelous finger food, the battle-hardened Sentinels stood around talking. The affection, admiration, and respect they held for each other was apparent.
As involved in their own conversations as they were, they couldn’t help but notice that Mike and Jacques had made their way to the outside balcony. Trying not to appear obvious, the others would periodically steal quick glances through the big plate-glass window. Judging from the body language of the two leaders and the intensity of their facial expressions, the other Sentinels concluded that their leaders were having a serious, do-not-disturb conversation.
* * *
J ACQUES WAS TALKING. “I’ M GUESSING THIS SITUATION WITH THE military budgeting represents a serious threat to the congressional appropriations process and demands our attention. When the Founding Fathers set up the checks and balances of your remarkable government, I wonder if they anticipated that these concentrated pockets of wealth and influence would become so dominant. Unfortunately, it’s not just a problem for American citizens. Many people in other countries are depending upon the generosity of the American people to help them reconstruct their local economies. Already, they’re starting to worry about how the cost associated with rearmament might interfere with their own needs.”
Responding, Mike said, “We may not like what McWilliams and his cronies are attempting, but at least we know what it is. Now that we have two sources of confirming information, I wonder if we really have any alternative to becoming involved.”
Jacques was about to respond when Cecelia announced, “All right, everyone, dinner is served!”
CONTENTS
PREQUEL
PREFACE
PROLOGUE
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Chapter 1 Manuel’s Club
Chapter 2 Mike Stone & Jacques Roth
Chapter 3 Richard Allen Bailey
Chapter 4 Movie Night
Chapter 5 Mary Wheeler Clarke
Chapter 6 Marco’s Notes
Chapter 7 The Mighty Warrior
Chapter 8 Who Is Marco Tancredi?
Chapter 9 Natalie Cummins
Chapter 10 Attacking Mr. Bill
Chapter 11 Natalie’s New Mission
Chapter 12 Dinner Is Served
Chapter 13 Call Gloria
Chapter 14 Going Their Separate Ways
Chapter 15 Stacking the Deck
Chapter 16 Gloria’s Finest Performance
Chapter 17 Plaything of the Year
Chapter 18 Plan
Chapter 19 Mercedes Exits Mexico
Chapter 20 Target Manuel
Chapter 21 New News
Chapter 22 A Quiet Evening with Cecelia
Chapter 23 Dr. Tom Burdick
Chapter 24 Myron Goldman
Chapter 25 Don Meets Mercedes
Chapter 26 The Pieces Fit
Chapter 27 White Box, Red Ribbon
Chapter 28 Least Bad Decision
Chapter 29 Cecelia’s Big Dance
Chapter 30 Building a Bridge
Chapter 31 Dinner at Claridges
Chapter 32 A Little Chat
Chapter 33 Something of Importance
Chapter 34 Across the Atlantic
Chapter 35 An Alternate Approach
Chapter 36 Mercedes Returns
Chapter 37 A New, Clear Voice
Chapter 38 Fall from Grace
Chapter 39 The Head of the Serpent
Chapter 40 The Fifth Estate
Chapter 41 Aren’t You Going to Say Hello to an Old Friend?
Chapter 42 Dinner at Sardi’s
Chapter 43 Impending Doom
Chapter 44 Gift from a Friend
Chapter 45 Tony Garibaldi, a Fellow Dreamer
Chapter 46 Jordan Sails
Chapter 47 The Retreat
Appendix A The Six Sentinels, In the Beginning
Appendix B Sentinels and Friends
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Jordan McWilliams: Wall Street attorney, in charge of Manuel members plan
Manuel Rodrigues Arena: Friend of McWilliams, Acapulco Host, Mexico City movie maker
Richard “Slick” Bailey: California congressmen, member of HUAC committee
Mercedes Ordonez Velasquez: Former Miss Universe, under contract to Arena Movie Studios
Mike Stone: Original Sentinel, Executive V.P. Scone City Bank
Jacques Roth: Original Sentinel, Head of Roth Bank in Geneva
Claudine Demaureux Roth: Original Sentinel, daughter of Henri Demaureux, wife of Jacques Roth
Mary Wheeler Clarke: Former Administrator, CIA, Bern, Switzerland
Henri Demaureux: Fifth Generation family President of Demaureux Bank of Switzerland
Cecelia Chang Scone: Original Sentinel, born in Hong Kong, married to Mike Scone
Southwick & Cornforth: Powerful Wall Street, New York City law firm
Marco Tancredi: Second generation, Sicilian immigrate, former garbage company executive, founder and owner of American Building Maintenance Company
Armando: Marco’s partner
Gordon Newell: Monterey sculptor, Scone family friend
Don Cerreta: Marco’s oldest and best friend, Federal Prosecutor, Attorney General Office
Natalie Cummins: Retired star of New York and London’s musical stage
David Marcus: Visiting Fellow, University of California, Owner-founder of Great Britain’s “International Petroleum Investment Advisors”
William W. Wey, aka “Mr. Bill”: Successful author, playwright, and screen writer, former World War II highly decorated naval aviator. Target of HUAC anti-communist investigations
Mrs. Cyril “Gloria” Adams: Retired Hollywood actress, former wife of Hollywood Black Listed screen writer
Dr. Tom Burdick: Professor, University of California, doctoral advisor to the “Original Six Sentinels”
Juan Pablo Perez: Venezuelan Petroleum Engineer, consultant to Middle Eastern, oil rich country governments
Tony