Once Professor Aleksandra Ponomarenko had been George Cove's tutor at Oxford but today, twenty years since they last met, she is telling him a life story - his own. He knew already that one of the greatest human tragedies of the twentieth century, the nuclear incident at Chernobyl in 1986, was deliberate sabotage, but Aleksandra reveals that not only was his role pivotal in the catastrophe, but everything else that mattered in his life - his education, his job, where he lived, how he lived, who he fell in love with, and who he lost - was orchestrated by the unseen hand of a man called Bill Familiant. As the Cold War became colder, Familiant, the British spy master, was in fear of the increasing Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe. He developed a counter-strategy that would last at least a generation, but to deliver his ambitious plan he needed to find agents who would grow into their role, and who could not know they had been selected for the purpose. Until this meeting with Aleksandra, George had no idea he and Anna had been the chosen ones. In their young adult years, when Familiant started pulling the strings, fate seemed particularly kind to them; but all the time, their feelings and loyalties were being moulded in preparation for active espionage in Poland and the Ukraine, and to be each other's' first real love. With George and Anna as his spearhead, Familiant's personal attack on the Red Enemy snowballed towards Chernobyl and the events that would haunt George forever. George finally faces up to the truth about his past and addresses Familiant's questionable morality and masterful manipulations, but he also gets the chance to build a new life - his own. With a second chance, will he be more successful? "When fate deals you a hand better than you could possibly imagine, should you trust it unquestioningly? If you do, will fate then find a way to claim back the fortunes it has bestowed on you?" This is a gripping novel of intrigue, power and complex relationships, showing the havoc caused when the State and the powerful manipulate innocent young lives to achieve their own goals-even when it comes to acts against humanity. This poignant story tackles important issues about destiny, complicity and personal identity and responsibility.
About the Author: erry Cryer is a full-time writer who now lives in Surrey in England. He is also an actor, business mentor, innovator, one-time guitarist in a rock covers band: Mid Life Crisis and business coach. After a university career contemporary with a British Home Secretary and the editor of a daily national newspaper (neither of whom he knew because they didn't play rugby), he embarked on a long and successful series of jobs in business management and consultancy, which others have kindly called a career. In his story-telling, he provides insights into top-level machinations, negotiations and behind-the-scenes issues that the general public know nothing about. Combined with his experience of different cultures, having lived and worked in over twenty-five countries on three continents - namely, Europe, the USA and the Middle East - he has a vast knowledge resource. He has high emotional intelligence and is a tenacious observer of the human condition, which gives him a special talent for looking at the detail and minutiae and setting them in the context of the bigger picture, dissecting human behaviour into its component parts within the complex situations that modern society demands. Gerry has the useful knack of staying relaxed and calm, especially in a crisis, not least because of the motto he lives by: 'Expect the unexpected'. This has proved particularly useful as his natural inquisitiveness and sense of adventure have caused him to be at the centre of many a crisis. The Masterful Manipulation of George Cove is his first novel, and his second, Blah Blah, will be released before Xmas 2013. A third novel is currently in edit for publication in 2014. To find out more about Gerry Cryer and his books, visit: www.gerrycryer.com