THE HYDRA CONSPIRACY
by
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Nick didn’t hear the first shot. Nobody did. It was lost in the cheers and shouts of the union members and it was drowned out by Tulane band’s enthusiastic rendition of "Hail to the Chief" as the President of the United States crossed the stage to the podium. He paused there, shook hands with the national leader of the Teamster’s union then leaned suddenly to his right to shake the hand of the man’s chubby, overdressed wife. That’s when it happened. One of the microphones clamped to the podium exploded with a loud, eardrum-shattering, crowd-stunning electronic shriek. In the seconds before the next shot was fired, Secret Service agents were on the move, launching themselves in carefully rehearsed directions. Four of them converged on the President who, still gripping the startled woman’s hand, had leaped back, pushing her behind him. Everyone heard the second crack but the third shot was again lost in the noise of a thousand people screaming and diving for cover among the rows of plastic chairs that filled the floor of the New Orleans Convention Center. Instinctively, Nick, in the second row of the media section, lunged forward out of his seat to see what was happening on stage. At the same time a local TV station cameraman whirled around to shoot the panic behind him. Nick saw the butt of the camera with its heavy battery pack coming at him but it was too late.
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About the Book
When his boyhood friend, Eric Hauptner, attempts to assassinate the President of the United States, Nick Stiles, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the New Orleans Chronicle, sees an opportunity to revive his waning career. Soon, however, he finds himself a target of the FBI investigation into the assassination, an investigation, led by his best friend, Steve Carras. Nick also discovers that Eric, who mysteriously dies in jail prior to his arraignment, has left him clues to explain his actions. These clues lead Nick to a sixty-year old plot hatched in the early days of the Third Reich. The operation, code named Hydra, placed specially-trained deep cover German agents in various countries including the United States in the late 1930s to function as sleepers, to be called upon when needed to be saboteurs and spies. Near the end of World War II, Eric’s father, an engineer’s mate on a German submarine, finds himself in possession of a set of papers detailing the Hydra operation, including a list of the agents in the United States. Shortly before his death some fifty years later, he tells his son the story and passes the papers on to him.
About the Author
Les Justus was born in Melrose Park, Illinois in 1951. After graduating from Glenbard East High School in Lombard, IL, in 1969, he moved to Shreveport, LA with his family. The original idea for The Hydra Conspiracy came to him in a dream in 1972. Les wrote the story as a screenplay and packed it away in a drawer, content that it was written. Les has followed in his father's profession as a painter and decorator, managing his own company for many years. He's married, has three beautiful children and has been very active in their lives, coaching soccer and chauffeuring them to their various activities. Les is an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and The Knights of Columbus. He also loves to shoot pool as a hobby and has helped his team win many trophies. Steve Butler, a close family friend, read the story and introduced Les to his acquaintance, Pam Lewis. The rest is history. Pam Lewis completed this novel with Les about two weeks before she succumbed to an exceedingly rare form of cancer, dying at the early age of forty-five. Pam was from Shreveport, Louisiana. Equipped with degrees from Louisiana Tech in Journalism and English, Pam taught in Louisiana Public Schools for seven years. She later became editor for the Bossier Press for ten years. Pam was an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and her second love was writing as she wrote many short stories and poetry over the years. Pam read Les' storyline and saw the potential for a great thriller. Working together with Les for five years, they finally finished a great piece of work. This novel has all the charisma and characters from New Orleans, Shreveport and other sultry cities around the world that really make the years taken to write the story worth the wait. This novel will keep you on the edge to discover the final and surprising outcome.