I’ve rewritten and polished much of this story, and even added additional pages. My editor has done an amazing job of finding things that I did not, along with making insightful suggestions along the way. I chose, on purpose, not to bring the story into present day. I actually started out to do just that – update it to take place in 2020, but then, as I reread Stratagems, I realized that it worked better as a period piece. Maybe it’s because I have memories of those times and it’s nice to revisit them. It dawned on me that much of what was happening back then in regard to cyber security and monitoring the Internet is still happening today.
I also capture Albuquerque as it once was, in the mid-two-thousands. For example, I write about driving to the petroglyphs, one of the many wonders on Albuquerque’s west side; I lived near them much of my life. When you drive up there now, it’s surrounded by houses in all directions, but back then it was open space as far as the eye could see. Another example is a restaurant built in the sixties called High Finance. It was atop Sandia Crest, a 10,378’ summit (300 feet lower than the summit you drive to that is depicted in this book), overlooking the city, and you get there by riding up a 2.7-mile tram from the bottom of the mountain located at the edge of Albuquerque. I’ve dined at High Finance several times, but in 2016 they tore it down and built a new, modern restaurant that features both a sky bar and fine dining. There are other places featured in the book that remain today, although they are used in a fictional setting. Hopefully you enjoy the nostalgia as much as I do, even if you didn’t live in Albuquerque during that time.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
About the Author
Author’s Note
Stratagems Page 36