The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic lives no more. Silent are her generals who would have led her in war. Unfired are her weapons of mass destruction; still are her ICBM's that threatened the world; abandoned are her silos housing rocket-propelled missiles with atomic warheads. Unmanned, overgrown and virtually unguarded are her missile sites that housed her brilliant scientists and engineers who stood ready to launch unimaginable devastation at a moment's notice. However, the weapons were not destroyed; they only awaited the command. The weapons were surplus and no longer needed. A situation ideal for Osama bin Laden and his rabid al Qaeda followers. The terrorists have long sought atomic weapons, and now the opportunity has arisen. All that it will take is money, a willing and knowledgeable Russian nuclear engineer, and money. And the fanatical al Qaeda have all three. 'When al Qaeda Launched the Nuke' is a first-class action adventure thriller that is filled with twists and turns as everything is not quite as it seems, and that includes bin Laden. Based on true events, the tale follows a plot within a plot within a plot and astounds the reader with its totally unsuspected conclusion.
About the Author: Successors of the Soviet propagandists would call my life story 'The Path of Betrayal'; independently thinking people would call it 'The Path of Enlightenment'. Like my peers, I was a Soviet pioneer and at due time a Komsomol member; sat by the campfire in the circle of other happy children singing communist songs and participating in the impressive ceremonial meetings devoted to the chiefs of the country. When I became older I was drafted into the Army and served my time in Uzhur, Siberia, which I described in my novel, building rocket launchers for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The war against the West appeared to be imminent and we were told to defend our country. However, I still remember the headlines in Pravda about "atrocities" of Hungarian rebels in Budapest and subsequent invasion of Soviet troops in 1956; "the fraternal assistance" by the way of Soviet tanks to Czechoslovak people in 1968; and of course, the anti-Stalin Twenties CPSU Congress. Changes to me came over the years and when I had a chance I've defected to the West. There are three very different versions of my escape but all of them are equally credible. America was generous to me. I continued my education and became a physicist. Currently I work for the US Department of Defense.