Operation Red Herring by David H Brown
Don't let the gruesome murders of a man and a woman in the basement of a former government building just off Capitol Hill in Washington, DC lull you into thinking this is just another mystery novel. It will take careful reading of this compelling and different kind of novel to understand the O. Henry-type ending. Page after page, and chapter after chapter, will bring together a series of intrigues. For example, the heads of the Italian mafia and the Russian mafiya work out a historic cooperative scheme to assassinate a high U.S. government official. This is to take place in late October 2007 during the 100th anniversary of Union Station on Capitol Hill, and the 78th anniversary of the 1929 Stock Market crash. (These two events truly are historically correct.) Once you discover that a secret Middle East terrorist organization is involved, the two events will make sense, because that organization has learned of the mafia and mafiya alliance's plan and will take advantage of them to execute its own event that will make a mockery of Capitol Hill's security procedures. The organization uses a small bank in a Caribbean nation to lauder the money needed to carry out its mission. The organization calls its effort OPERATION RED HERING. The term stems from animal rights activists in England who confuse hunt dogs by dragging bags of that dead fish across the trail so the fox is not killed. To the organization, the term means deception. A curmudgeon private detective and his Capitol Police niece not only solve the two murders, but they help unravel the Union Station plot. The murders take place in what used to be, for the novel's purpose, the former Government Printing Office. The GPO now houses an innovative semi-government agency, but few of the current and former occupants know the existence of a underground tunnel between the building and Union Station. (It actually exists.) The assassination attempt will make use of that tunnel to avoid discovery. Many clues are scattered throughout the novel. You may have to reread sections of the novel to discover them. Even the murder weapons are unusual. And, at least one character will turn out to be someone who really is not what you think.
It is said a cat has nine lives. It is fact David H. Brown has had nine careers. Some were longer than others; some overlapped. As someone who nearly flunked out of college twice, he is included in the Who's Who Lifelong Achievement Award listing. He earned a bachelor's degree from Cleveland College in 1950, with a major in journalism and a minor in public speaking. In 1980, he earned a master's degree in public relations from The American University. Born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 15, 1926, his parents were Ukrainian refugees who fled to America just prior to World War I. In chronical order, he was a public speaker; a combat rifleman in World War II; later becoming an Army Reserve officer assigned to the Pentagon; an organizer of various groups; an Ohio newspaper reporter; a local politician, and later an award-winning activist; a federal government public information officer/spokesman and founding president of the National Association of Government Communicators; part-time national capital correspondent for a major public relations newsletter; award-winning adjunct professor of speech at Montgomery college and a member of its Foundation Board; and, in retirement, the author of a dozen books so far.He does not deny his penchant for personal recollections, as well as puns and pranks.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781434326881 |
| ISBN 10 | 1434326888 |
| Title | Operation Red Herring |
| Author | David H Brown |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | AuthorHouse |
| Year published | 2007-08-31 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |