Synopsis - The Crescent Onion by Val Pattee The Crescent Onion is a riveting espionage thriller, written with a degree of realism only a top insider could deliver. Val knows the workings of the CIA, KGB, military brass, terrorist groups and international governments - and the thoughts of the men and women who make up those organizations - from his years as chief of intelligence and security for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and for the Canadian Armed Forces. In The Crescent Onion Val weaves a complex story that could be tomorrow's headline news. Retired CIA operative Jim Buchan is drawn into the center of a maelstrom of threats to international security. Moussada Kazim al-Takhta, Buchan's old nemesis, now needs Jim's help to avert bombings to Internet server sites around the world and the take-over of Turkistan, a fictional composite of several Central Asian countries, by extremists. Former KGB General Illyich Vladimir Makov is conscripted to access Russia's intelligence might and help analyze the puzzles. He will also relay messages from the US's new president directly to Prime Minister Putin. Beyond a hearty serving of violent action and human frailties, The Crescent Onion is an intelligent examination of interrelated global issues: the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, corruption and violence endemic to Russian and Central Asia business and government, the US's rapidly evolving political stance in Central Asia, international trafficking in drugs, and Internet piracy and sabotage. Jim and his computer expert son Mark race against time to unravel the clues, aided by their wives: policy analyst Leigh, and Katrina whose grandfather is General Makov. The plot moves between Washington, Langley and Fort Meade; Sochi, Moscow and St. Petersburg; Monaco and Nice; Turkistan; and on to a highly-armed and authorized-to-shoot F/A-18 Hornet interceptor at 35,000 feet off the coast of Florida. If the good guys are too late, a major US city will be incinerated.