The Onion Files, a new spy thriller by Major General Val Pattee

This just in from Gail Foster, whose reviews appear across the Internet:

Hi Bruce…..

WHEW!!!  I just finished devouring THE ONION FILES by the brilliant Val Pattee and had to email you immediately.  As I mentioned in a previous email to you, I knew I would love this book and, indeed, I did!!!   Right from the very first page to the absolutely chilling final one it was truly nonstop action.  Like the onion of the title, the plot of this amazing book revealed itself page by page, chapter by chapter never lagging in suspense or substance.  There were so many twists and turns in this book but the best was that on page 261 …..a complete OHHHH NOOOOO moment!!!!  Most of the books that I read would be classified as geopolitical  and are pretty frightening but none as scary as THE ONION FILES.

A few random thoughts:  I don’t think I’ll ever look at a Pringles chip can again without flashing on Kazim’s use of it….wish I had known Mo when we were in Sardinia….would have been that much more of a pleasant sojourn especially being regaled by Mo’s tales about Jim Buchan.  These characters that Val Pattee developed for this book are ones that are so delightful and charming  or so despicable that you’ll not forget them soon….fully fleshed out.  And his research was, I’m sure, as he actually lived it!!!  What a fantastic life Val Pattee has led ….I’m just so glad that he’s sharing parts of it with the world through his incredible writing as his books tell the kind of dramatic truth that only fiction can tell.

As the world has witnessed McCain saying that we’ll be in Iraq for a hundred years….that could well be and even longer with the mentality of  jihadists worldwide….they do NOT forget nor forgive…this will go on forever through the ever-growing numbers and their descendants!  Leave it to the Turks to circumvent a seventy year old law by calling an aircraft carrier a deep-sea fishing vessel with a flat deck….. that made me laugh out loud.   It would certainly behoove the decision makers in government, ours as well as others, to study history….. if Alexander the Great had been defeated by the Pashtuns, how can we possibly think that we’re any wiser or better?  History only keeps repeating itself over and over with much the same conclusion.  The minds of  Asian and Middle Eastern peoples are such that Westerners can never truly understand even after centuries of study.  But I think it really helps people who read this kind of book to get a little bit of a grasp of what’s going on since our news certainly does little to enlighten us on a daily basis.

Thank you so much, Bruce, for sending THE ONION FILES to me……I can only hope that you’ll step up the marketing for it thereby affording it and Val Pattee  the respect they so richly deserve.  I also hope that he is a fast writer and that we’ll be getting book 2 of this chilling series soon.  So many times a really terrific book gets to the end and falls flat…. this one had the best ending ever…. made you want more …. fast!!!   I’ve already started talking about this book… to anyone and everyone ….. it just NEEDS to be read by as many people as possible!!!

Cheers….
Gail

GAIL FOSTER
MYSTERIES & MORE
24 ASHLAND DRIVE
NOVATO CA 94949-8241

March 24, 2008 — In its first month on Podiobooks.com’s audio book charts, The Onion Files has cracked the Podiobooks Top Ten. This is a “list of the most popular books by number of subscriptions in the last thirty days,” says Podiobooks.com’s co-founder, Evo Terra. Currently Major General Val Pattee’s spy thriller is at the number 6 spot.

Episodes may be accessed through Podiobooks.com. Fans are able to listen for free to these episodes.

These audio recordings are narrated by the author, Major General Val Pattee, and were recorded at Agio Publishing House’s home studio. General Pattee is at the forefront of a wave of authors creating their own indie audio books to meet the growing demand for content as MP3 listening devices such as iPods, cel phones and eBook readers become ever more ubiquitous throughout the world.

“Releasing chapters as podcoast episodes through Podiobooks.com can provide excellent publicity for the printed book, and for the complete audio book on CD or DVD,” notes Bruce Batchelor, publisher at Agio Publishing House. “This is part of the new vision of marketing stories as CONTENT through a wide range of editions and channels, rather than the old publishing model of selling only the printed BOOK and only through book stores.”

As soon as General Pattee has recorded all the chapter episodes, Agio will release the full audio book as an MP3 CD, manufactured on demand and available through Amazon.com and Lulu.com.

Major General Val Pattee’s The Onion Files is an “exciting but at the same time alarming new book,” says Rob Breakenridge, host of The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge on CHQR 770AM in Calgary. “Adding to the plausibility is the fact that the author comes to it all very much from an insider’s perspective.”

• Click here to listen! (8 minute interview)

Val was just interviewed on CBC Radio One’s All Points West program. Host Jo-Ann Roberts said, “I was hooked when I started reading it… I found myself comparing it to Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum…” Later she expressed surprise that major publishers and agents hadn’t snapped up this book and predicted that producers would soon notice it: “It really sounds like a movie.”

• Click here to listen! www.valpattee.com/ValCBC.mp3 (8 minute interview)

The Onion Files is “a very good story and a pleasure to read” says Terry Spence, host of CFAX 1070 Talk Radio with Terry Spence. “It has that feel of truth to it like the guy who wrote it really knows what goes on in that part of our world.”

• Click here to listen! www.valpattee.com/CFAXValPatteecompact.mp3 (18 minute interview)

Upcoming author appearances: speech at the Royal Victoria Probus Club in May and presentation at the Western State Law Enforcement Conference in Yakima, WA, in July.

Val was just interviewed on CBC Radio One. Host Jo-Ann Roberts said, “I was hooked when I started reading it… I found myself comparing it to Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum…” Later she expressed surprise that major publishers and agents hadn’t snapped up this book and predicted that producers would soon notice it: “It really sounds like a movie.”

• Click here to listen! (8 minute interview)

“Val, in all honesty, I was blown away. I would read a few pages, put the book on my chest, and wonder how could Val weave so much into a single paragraph. I’ve asked myself “could I do it?” The answer was no. You really are very good.
“In addition to how well you write, the story was terrific. And, the characters became real. Congratulations, my friend you found a new vocation. I know you will continue to be successful. (It was clever to let us readers know, there would be a follow on with some of the same characters.)
“I predict the book will be a huge success and look forward to seeing you on the Opera Winfrey show.”
– Jack Chain, retired 4-star General USAF

“I am flat impressed. Your research is phenomenal coupled with your great imagination. The story line is superb and the lead-in suspense really keeps the book in the “page-turner” mode. The concept, which is so terribly believable, is certainly there as we speak.”

– Bill Goldfein, USAF Col ret.

“I’m finally taking a few minutes to tell you how much I enjoyed your book. Initially I planned to read it on the flight to Australia but I made the mistake of starting it a couple of nights before we left Palm Springs and by the time we left for the airport I was finished!

“Congratulations on a superb result. You had me right from the opening to the end. Your storyline with all the suspense and intrigue was gripping. You clearly moved in some fascinating circles during the last few years of your career and you very successfully wove that knowledge into a story that will, I am sure, keep all your readers up late because they can’t put it down.

“Best of all, your closing statement leaves the door wide open for the ‘next’ one. For Heaven’s sake let me know when it is available.”

– Harv Haakonson, MD, bestselling author

The Onion Files is “a very good story and a pleasure to read” says Terry Spence, host of CFAX 1070 Talk Radio with Terry Spence. “It has that feel of truth to it like the guy who wrote it really knows what goes on in that part of our world.”

• Click here to listen! (18 minute interview)

Watch the “trailer” for The Onion Files at YouTube.com. Here is the link:

Tell you what you think!

This comment just in from one of the US military’s top spy experts…

The Onion Files is an extraordinary fictional spy thriller written by a true intelligence professional. In this novel, General Pattee utilizes his vast experience and wide-ranging international intelligence contacts to provide a riveting, imaginative, easy read story line. The novel revolves around a post 9-11 plot by Al-Qaeda terrorists to devastate key nodes of the U.S. electrical power system utilizing cyber warfare as the key instrument of this effort. While The Onion Files is a fictional novel, it provides a very accurate tutorial highlighting the growing challenge for current international intelligence agencies. It dramatically reflects the critical need for close cooperation between worldwide intelligence agencies to maximize appropriate counter efforts as the threat continues to grow. In that regard, I strongly recommend that intelligence and homeland security personnel at all levels read this fascinating novel.

Lt. General Leonard Perroots (Ret)
Former Director, US Defense Intelligence Agency

Here are comments just in from two people who have read the advance reading copy version of The Onion Files by Val Pattee:

“Osama is alive and well in this fast paced thriller about the next major terrorist attack in North America. The destruction of their targets of choice would be much more devastating than the loss of the Twin Towers on 9/11. The author’s background makes his descriptions of events all the more credible. Val Pattee retired as a major-general having spent the majority of the time following his fighter pilot career in the highest levels of the intelligence world during the Cold War. One can’t help but think that some of his “imaginary” crises are based on similar events from his past. A chilling thought.”

– Lewis W. MacKenzie, CM, OOnt, MSC and Bar, CD, Major-General (ret’d)

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“Val Pattee brings a lifetime of real world experience to writing this page turner. The Onion Files has an intricate, compelling and credible plot. One wonders how close to the brink we really are.”

– Gordon Smith, former Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister