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Former NATO intelligence chief writes cyberterrorism spy thriller -- Major General Val Pattee's novel lauded as compelling and a "tutorial for homeland security personnel".

Suppose al-Qaeda had a second, potentially more devastating attack planned in 2001. How would it be thwarted?

"The Onion Files" is a spy thriller differing from all previous novels in one very important aspect: author Val Pattee was one of the Western world's top spy masters. Serving as chief of intelligence for NATO in Europe during periods of Cold War-era terrorism, he worked with the heads of intelligence for sixteen member nations, and conferred with his Soviet and Red Chinese counterparts.

Although "The Onion Files" is fiction, Pattee infuses the action with a realism of people and places only an insider could deliver. The title refers to an ingenious and diabolical plot by al‑Qaeda to devastate vast areas of the United States soon after the 9/11 attacks. Pattee introduces readers to protagonists Jim and Mark Buchan, who work with the US Central Intelligence Agency and Russian counter-terrorism units in a fast-paced hunt across three continents to halt a computer virus and its brilliant creator.

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Audio Quality: Out of 11 ratings

Narration Quality: Out of 11 ratings

Writing Quality: Out of 11 ratings

Overall Rating: Out of 11 ratings

By: Chris
Agreed with everyone above. The story is intriguing and a great spy novel, the delivery much less so. I agree with Sheryl, some of the words he pronounces are just wrong, and they are seemingly common words if you've ever watched a newscast or two you would have become familiar with them. In addition the story is heavy on dialog which is a good thing, but sometimes the dialog is far too mundane to be included. Lots of things the listeners can just assume happen, they don't need to be told as such. So I'd recommend becoming a harsh editor and stripping out some of the fluffy dialog.

By: Sheryl
The story is chilling, fascinating, all too plausible, and a great way to avoid doing homework. I found myself holding my breath more than once. For the sequel, however, the author simply MUST cede the task to someone else! He delivers a spine tingling plot with absolutely zero emotion and no knack for sentence cadence. He has such shockingly poor pronunciation of so many common words that it made a difficult listen even more so at times. Having said all that, I do want people to give this story a chance. They will want to come back for the sequel. We all have a deep need to see the bad guy get his due!

By: Bruce Batchelor
Hello Everyone -- Thanks for appreciating the first episodes of THE ONION FILES. All episodes (more than 50) are now available to download/subscribe. Val and I had fun taping all the chapters -- and hope you enjoy listening to them. The plan is to soon take all these episodes and create a full DVD of the book. The sequel, tentatively called THE ONION CRESCENT, is partly written. Val will be working on the manuscript again this winter when he is in Mexico. thanks, cheers, Bruce

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