Government Mysteries

Excerpt: "The United States was desperate to reassert its global power after the embarrassment of Sputnik. In fact, the Russians were showing up the United States in all sorts of ways. First human-made satellite, the first man in space, first man in orbit, the first woman in space, first dog in space. The list goes on. If the United States tried something as daring as going to the Moon and failed, the repercussions would be enormous."

Nathan McBride is on the case again - and this time, the stakes are personal. His friend just saw two people killed, and he believes he knows the man responsible. But as McBride and his partner, Fontana, pursue the investigation, they find themselves on the brink of a shadow war, fought in secret by the powerful and wealthy - a war in which a single decision could change the course of history.

Holmes is charged by the permanent special adviser to the prime minister, his brother Mycroft, to plot a new course for Great Britain following the country's vote in a plebiscite to secede from the Entente Cordiale. Holmes demonstrates that politics truly is an art and that all things are possible as he travels to Washington, Moscow, and Paris meeting statesmen who bear no resemblance at all to the present-day holders of the equivalent posts.