Taxiday

Sorry for the absence but have been busy (understatement) - completed first draft in less than one month.

Advice/comments/suggestions please -

Query letter:

Army sergeant Bill Sampson gets a dream assignment at the American embassy in Vienna, Austria.

At 143,500 words, Waltzing in the Shadows is a mixture of fact, fiction and observations during the height of the Cold War. Set in Vienna from late 1978 to mid-1981, it is based upon my personal experiences in the US Department of Defense Security Assistance Office at the American embassy performing duties as, what I jokingly told my Austrian acquaintances, a spy and arms dealer.

It combines memories of a wonderful country, a historic city and people who warmly welcome strangers in their midst. It also shows the darker side of life in what was often known as the Spy Capitol of the West.

This novel explains the whys and wherefores of current world affairs to include the ousting of the Shah of Iran, the takeover by radical Islamists of an American embassy and the abrogation of power on the part of an American administration. And sadly, it shows how, while many people saw and understood the possible effects, their efforts were ignored. While the locale and events are real, the characters, all but one, and their interactions are fictional.

Thank you for your time.

Synopsis:

WALTZING IN THE SHADOWS

SYNOPSIS

United States Army Sergeant First Class Bill Sampson completes an assignment recruiting soon-to-be college graduates with specialized degrees to enlist for jobs as research assistants at various Army medical research laboratories.
Based upon his specialty and fluency in German, he is offered at job at the American embassy in Vienna, Austria. It is mid-1978 at the height of the Cold War. He accepts without knowing what the job entails.
As part of his orientation, he visits the Austrian embassy in Washington where an employee, Ursula Weber, gives him a general idea of what the job entails and what to expect in her home nation. They establish an immediate rapport and see each other socially before he departs.
Bill finds the office in the embassy comprised of himself, an Army officer and an Austrian civilian. The man he replaces shows him the ropes and returns to the states.
Vienna proves to be, by far, the most beautiful and culture-laden city he has visited in Europe. He had served previous tours of duty in Europe, one in France and two in West Germany. He enjoys the parks and events of the Harvest Festivals going on during his arrival.
The job itself is not complicated, being responsible for overseeing U.S. military equipment given to Austria at the end of the Occupation, coordinating Austrian training requirements at U.S. military schools and gathering information on troop movements and activities in Warsaw Pact countries bordering Austria. Although in no way a spy, he is followed by Soviet KGB agents everywhere he goes.
Within six months of arriving in Vienna, Bill learns Ursula has returned to the city and they renew their friendship. Through her, he begins to receive incredibly detailed information on plans and events to take place throughout the Middle East and behind the Iron Curtain. It also contains highly secret assessments of Soviet military equipment and units.
Bill is drawn into a Honey Trap and only escapes when he is sent to visit an Austrian installation near the girl’s purported home town. She disappears quickly and he discovers that no such person exists. Ursula, who he discovers is an officer in the Austrian State Security Police, checks it out for him -- and her country -- to find out that everything about the girl was phony.
Bill attends the opera, experiences music in Baroque chambers with soaring roofs, jazz in smoky cellars and brass bands in gardens surrounded by vine-covered walls of wine cafes. He and friends visit Rococo and Medieval castles and buildings. They go to affairs attended by the well-to-do and gatherings with common folk, all of whom welcome strangers warmly to their land.
He enjoys five-star cuisine, common meals in local inns and taverns and savors fresh-baked, warm rolls with savory sausages and spicy German mustard. He drinks wine that, in his opinion, is equal to if not superior to German Rhein wines and far better than anything he had in France. His favorite Summer drink sounds awful as it is comprised of local beer and lemonade! Called a Radler, it is a popular and thirst quenching concoction.
Bill encounters the dark side of a city where world officials gather to conduct business and intelligence operations. It is far that reason that Vienna is known as the Spy Capitol of the West. He listens to a first hand account of the Soviet travails in Afghanistan.
His friendship with Ursula turns to a love that will end up in a lifetime relationship. Bill finds her to be everything he desires while discovering that she is an outstanding professional in the world of intelligence as well as a senior official in the Austrian Stapo. Through her, he learns the truth of his parents and learns that he is part heir to a cattle ranch in Montant.
The story takes one through the weaknesses and dangerous failings of the Carter Administration, the fall of the Shah of Iran and the rise of radical Islamic factions. It deals with the cracks opening in the wall of communism and the often unreported activities of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
Bill, Ursula, now his wife, and the lieutenant colonel he works for end up before a senior CIA executive due to information they became privy to about top secret American operations at the highest levels of government. Both the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency are perplexed at the uncanny accuracy of their source’s information.
At the end of his tour, Bill is replace by another sergeant with roots in Eastern Europe, fluency in many European languages and service as a Green Beret and intelligence operative. Bill in turn is assigned to the very organization his replacement came from -- the big, black cube at Fort Meade, Maryland.
The story ends over twenty years later when Bill and Ursula, along with their son and daughter, watch in horror as things long known come to a head with the carrying out of a fatwa proclaimed long ago and in a far place. Four airplanes cause havoc and kills thousands as they -- and the whole world -- watch in horror.