Crooked Cross Factor (Paperback)

Once there, however, Smith discovers that his new assignment was part of a much more sinister agenda. The US Ambassador is suspected of espionage, but he has been a life-long friend of Smith’s. Their paths have crossed before, with no real evidence that the Ambassador is anything but a loyal civil servant.
Then one night the picture becomes blurry. Soviet commandos break into Smith’s apartment by "mistake" and so sets the stage for a battle against time. Embroiled in this conflict are the mutinous crew of a Russian submarine, a sunken WWII U-boat loaded with gold, secret agents from countries around the globe and innocent players wrapped up in the conflict. Taken from an actual international crisis during 1969 and the interview of a former embassy security director, The Crooked Cross Factor is based more on fact than fiction.

During the "Cod War," between England and Iceland over fishing limits, the Soviet Union lost track of one of her ballistic submarines. Then in 5 separate incidents across the world, submarines vanished. Nations were brought to the brink of a global conflict, while most Americans were focused on newly elected President Nixon and the War in Vietnam.

Into this diplomatic crisis comes Derek Smith, a security specialist in the doghouse, who is actually the chosen solution to prevent an escalating nightmare. Smith has a checkered past – once a collegiate fencing champion, graduate of The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and scapegoat for the failings at the Embassy in Saigon, he is spiraling into a conflict seemingly out of his league. To complicate things even further, Smith falls in love with the Icelandic Minister of Roads, a woman gifted in many ways and who seems to be other than she claims.

Take an action-packed, roller-coaster ride into the shadowy back-room conflict of embassies, nations pushing the brink of war and agents betraying innocent, or not so innocent, bystanders. The Crooked Cross Factor will hook you with its historical events, then entertain you with counter move and double cross.

Take an action-packed, roller-coaster ride into the shadowy back-room conflict of embassies, nations pushing the brink of war and agents betraying innocent, or not so innocent, bystanders. The Crooked Cross Factor will hook you with its historical events, then entertain you with counter move and double cross.
Derek Hart’s passion is writing action/adventure fiction, with over 15 novels, 3 screenplays, and hundreds of short stories to his credit. Mr. Hart resides in Marietta, Georgia with his wife and son, where he is a Leadership Development consultant.