Vapors

Naples, FL: Admiral House Publishing, 1999. First Printing [Stated]. Advance Reader's Edition. Trade paperback. Very good. Lightbourne Images. [12], 339. [3] pages. Inscribed to John Schultz on the title page. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Cover has top banner that reads "Advance Reader's Edition - Not For Sale". Autographed copy sticker on front cover. Stamp of former owner on first page. Minor corner crease at back cover. Wes DeMott is an American political thriller writer. He honorably served in the U.S. Navy, is a former FBI agent, private investigator, and has worked as an actor. The Reader's edition has its own ISBN and the limited quantity may have been separate from the stated initial printing of 35,000. Plot summary: a psychological thriller about America's defense contractors and the dangerous territory beyond government oversight where secret policy is made. Retitled The Fund in paperback, it has been translated into Czech, Hungarian and Russian. Derived from a Kirkus review: Vapors is about corruption in high places, it's about the FBI, it's about undying love, but most of all it's about people shooting other people. Engineer Peter Jamison is in trouble. His major project at Dillon Aerospace has been abruptly aborted, and he doesn't know why. But he thinks Melissa Corley does. She's very smart and works for a citizens' coalition that monitors the industry. She's also very beautiful, and Peter loves her to distraction. Melissa convinces Peter that Dillon Aerospace is evil and that they owe it to America to blow the whistle on these devils. The two amass a dossier of villainous behavior and turn it over to feisty Senator Drummond, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee. But now Dillon, alerted, stands ready to retaliate. Jack Kane, head of the company's security operation, may be the best fighter in the whole world. Moreover, he has all manner of hired guns at his disposal and sends out a stream of them to silence Peter. Bad move: Jack should have gone himself. Though he's 47, Peter has forgotten none of the lethal skills he learned in Vietnam 30 years ago. He beats up on the mercenaries, kills a few. In the meantime, Melissa has been arrested by rogue elements in the FBI for reasons not absolutely clear. Peter, desperate to free her, gets help from tried-and-true elements in the FBI. Additional fire- and fist- fights follow; more bodies are rendered dead in a variety of gore-drenched ways. At length, Peter rescues Melissa, who turns out (alas) to have character flaws. Other good guys have also somehow become bad guys, and those among them left alive go to jail.