The man with the golden mind

The man with the golden mind

The first scenes set the tension and suspense as two men change identities and both looking for the same goal Gold: finding the two that brought them to where they claimed it’s buried the final seconds will shock readers as one man betrays the other and disappears but will in the present 25 years later will he pay for his crime?

Twenty-five years later Maier is contacted by Julie Rendel to find the man who killed her father 25 years ago. Her goal is to find out the circumstances surrounding his death in Laos in 1976. Why him? She’s attracted to him but things get close and someone knocks on the door of their room and he gets blindsided as she is kidnapped and he’s knocked out. 

But flashing back to the first three chapters we meet someone with the code name Weltmeister who wants his identity hidden and who worked for several governments and his only way out is to take the lives of anyone who can identify him. 

The novel takes us inside the history of Laos, the United States, and Vietnam plus files of Weltmeister’s betrayals and the acts that were enacted and hatched by various governments. But Maier finds himself deep inside the workings of those who want him silenced and yet he moves ahead to find Julie after receiving an email with the destination he needs to travel to get her back. But nothing is easy and he winds up at first going to meet with the two people Julie was to connect with but one was taken and his girlfriend is left and that’s where things get wild. 

The author places him and the young girl in what a man called The Teacher sets is the Free State of Mind where children are branded, people are abused and he and the young girls are taken prisoners until he says something that changes the tied somewhat in his favor but not for long as this man and his guards claim to pass through this place you need a Jungle Visa. Things get dangerous and everything turns deadly as Maier finds himself captive and injured and here is where the author changes the volume on the violence and intrigue as we learn about Maier, his father, and what is expected of him to find Julie, Leo, and Kanitha. This is where things get interesting. 

The section finishes with more deaths, deceptions, and betrayals as the men who captured Maier would in the end learn a lesson they might never survive to regret as the author takes us inside the halls of the government and we come face to face with Weltmeister. 

The focus is the Sundermann detective agency and he links to Maier and the two people responsible for the fake hanging, his serious injuries, and the files that they both want as damaging as the U48 which outlines the threats that Bryson and Lieb have spoken. Plus murdering people they have no evidence against and getting carte Blanche from the President. Things get tenser as he’s told they want someone named Mikhail and they want his file. Threats are spoken, stay away from his detective agency and a final confrontation ends but who will win?

Sundermann wants the lowdown on the Russian and getting Welmeister before the Americans or anyone else. Then we meet Maier and he’s being placed back on the case as tragedy hits and he comes Welmeister finds him and wants his help but how and why?

The events take on many different directions and betrayals, deceptions and the truth behind what his father planned, who Julia is and a surprise twist you won’t see coining as Maier has to withstand the ultimate betrayal and his decision to take lives like his father, the role of the TV Secretary of State, what is the significance of the file and where would he wind up at the end?

A father who left when he was burned and lives taken as a result of his actions but will Maier join him? Will he face-off with his father? Will he find closure? Will he write the report his boss wants and train a new guy?

Long Cheng was deserted and the author describes the landing strip and the scene that has changed. He wonders why his father came back. 

Lives are disposable and the truth behind his father’s motives will send shockwaves all through Maier vas Leon shares what happened 25 years ago when the war ended. His friend Rendel with him and Mona his sister as he shows him the alley where he killed his friend and his sister but it’s what is in there that enlightens him as he reminds Leon that his fetter wants him dead. What is the truth and what role did Kissinger play? What other deceptions were enacted as author Tom Vater takes us deep inside the minds of not only Maier, Leon but the most cunning of them all his father. Who was Kanitha and why was she a plant? She played him and Leon but forces would take hold. 

What Leon has hidden and what Maier takes brings us back to the first scenes and we learn the secret that the Hmong has kept and an ending that will make you and our main character question the meaning of what is a father? What happens at the end leads you to be this is far from over. The job is done but does anyone win? A family holiday would you have wanted to attend? A golden mind refers to a kind and ethical heart if you look closer at Maier but when you look at his father your definition changes To someone selfish, evil in his way and his actions are for his selfish gains or in this case preservation. The man with the golden mind: Maier/ Weltmeister or the author who brilliantly created them?

Fran Lewis just reviews