Shake Hands with a Snake

About the Book

After weeks of grueling negotiations over a merger, the chief executive officer of a major natural gas and electric company has escaped with his wife for a desperately needed vacation.  The plan was to take two weeks when no one could reach him in order to get himself ready to take on the top job in a new and larger corporation.

          Unfortunately, that turned out to be a deadly mistake.  Forces within the new company used his absence to grasp control and seize millions of dollars.

          The quiet, isolated location he chose in order to recuperate was Ledge End Inn, an ancient hostel in the Catskill Mountains.  When it was discovered that  he and his wife were in dire danger, the only support they could receive was from the staff of the Inn and a group of elderly ladies, know affectionately at the Inn as the “Regulars,” a name they received by being the only guests who came back year after year.  They had to contend with the New York City Police Department, the FBI and, most challenging of all, hired killers.

About the Author

Alan Lamont Smith (he uses his middle name because the world is teeming with “Alan Smiths”) lives in Sarasota, Florida with his wife, Vivienne.

His writing career has been almost entirely in New York City, where he was Vice President of the former Brooklyn Union Gas Company.  Independently, he has written and directed documentary films on Israeli agriculture, solar energy, fuel cells, and energy and the environment.  He was, at various times, president of the Brooklyn Arts Council, chairman of the 40^th Anniversary of Israel, president of the New York Public Relations Society, creator of the “Welcome Back to Brooklyn” annual holiday, president of the National Energy Foundation and more.  After three years in the Naval Air Corps during World War II, he graduated from the University of North Carolina.

His descriptions of Ledge End Inn are accurate—as they were 40 years ago when his former wife and two children, daughter Sydney and son Scott, vacationed there each summer.

The patch on his left eye is not for dramatic effect.  He has worn one for 17 years due to a detached retina and an incompetent surgeon.