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Secreto Jack Cade Secure Transaction ISBN: 0-9774725-0-7 |
More than four years have gone by since the attack on the World Trade Center by radical Islamic terrorists, and there has not been another attack on the U.S. mainland. Virtually everyone believes it is only a matter of time before another major attack. A radical idea has been hatched in the White House: Why not create small secret teams of private agents in the major cities of the United States that can work with the local police to ferret out plots in their formative stages? And why not let these teams have direct access to the President of the United States, bypassing the bureaucracy that bungled and delayed the direct action that might have prevented the 9/11 disaster? And now, a newly-formed government intelligence agency has fragmentary data indicating that a terrorist attack in the United States could be imminent, likely by cruise missiles against San Diego. They don’t know how large it will be, or exactly when it will occur. Time is running out. It is the mission of the secret team in San Diego, headed by master criminologist and mathematical savant Alexander Quickly and his right-hand actionman Julius Burton, ex–Navy Seal and CIA covert agent, to uncover and foil the plot. Only a miracle will prevent disaster.
With the help of Zelda Rivers,a beautiful woman and CIA covert agent of immense talents and sensuality, they set out to penetrate the vast Rancho Santa Fe estate of the number one suspect, a billionaire psychopath whose fatal weakness is sexy, capable women. This enjoyable and enlightening story is a crime mystery novel with romance and international intrigue. It examines the current status of homeland security. It delves into the psychopathic mind of terrorists, and the philosophy of good and evil. The story takes us to the Gulf of California in Mexico and the Palm Desert area of California, where CIA remote-viewers try to locate the missiles; and to the exotic Costa del Sol area of Spain, where love blooms.
Jack Cade is a pseudonym. The real Jack Cade was the leader in late medieval Europe of the 1450 Kent rebellion that took place in the time of King Henry VI in England. Some sources suggest Cade was of Irish origin, and he was alleged to have murdered a woman in 1449. The revolt against King Henry was for unfair taxes, corruption, and damaging effect of the loss of France. For his role in the Kent rebellion, Cade was killed, after which his body was taken to London and quartered for display in different cities; his head ended up on a pike on London Bridge.
Review by: Christina Claassens of Foreword Magazine
San Diego is at risk of a cruise missile attack from either Mexico or from the Pacific. A team of
undercover agents, hired through the U.S. government and led by a British “consultant in matters
of crime,” have joined forces to uncover the mystery of whom and where this cruise missile may
come from.In Jack Cade’s new crime mystery novel, Secreto: The Strange Case of the Fisherman’s Son, Julius Burton, an ex-Navy Seal and CIA secret agent, is recruited to the undercover crime team to investigate Omar Ratcliff, a self-made billionaire suspected of harboring a cruise missile. The son of a tuna fisherman, they believe Ratcliff may be plotting to set off a missile from a tuna boat, but they need to find out if their background on his motives and means will lead to a missile, if indeed he has one.
The team’s work leads to revealing background on Ratcliff’s psychological state, exposing a madman. Burton says in a debriefing meeting with his team: “[Ratcliff] seems obsessively afraid of a terrorist attack. He spoke several times about his disappointment with the president’s antiterrorism program; said it was misguided and stupid with not enough resources for the real vulnerabilities such as bombs in shipping containers and trucks crossing the border.”
In Cade’s novel, the story follows many of today’s current issues. The book includes a president who has little popularity because of his war in Iraq, a loosening of terrorism-fighting tactics and defense around the border, as well as other references to topics that parallel the Bush administration. The book serves as a good metaphor for current events and is a clever commentary on present day politics and government. It uncovers the vulnerabilities of protecting a large border as well.
Secreto also offers readers a mystery to solve that is easy to relate to. It includes plenty of problem solving when the team discusses possibilities and motives, action scenes when they uncover a cruise missile, and romance between team members as well as the “enemy.” While the book is entertaining and easy to internalize, it is not overly complicated and some of the“answers” to their investigation are too obvious or easily obtained. Cade includes few twists until the very end, which can disappoint those who enjoy convoluted plots.
Cade’s own identity as the author is telling as a mystery writer. Cade is a pseudonym, taken from “the leader in late medieval Europe of the 1450 Kent rebellion that took place in the time of King Henry VI in England.”
While Secreto may not be the most in-depth mystery, it is a fun read. More than anything it brings thoughtfulness to current-day issues, such as the war in Iraq and the safety of the country. It brings an otherwise fictitious world close to home, just short of encouraging fear or worry about powerful madmen harboring ill-will in this crazy world.
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