Now available -- ISBN 978-1897435-05-2 trade paperback; ISBN 978-1897435-06-9 hardcover edition; ISBN 978-1897435-07-6 eBook edition Buy the book!
by Major General Val Pattee
Check Val's author profile page at Agio Publishing for news about the publishing of this fast-paced spy novel by the former chief of intelligence for NATO.
All episodes of THE ONION FILES now available at Podiobooks.com
August 24, 2008 -- Podiobooks.com's co-founder Evo Terra announced today that the complete audio version of The Onion Files is now available at Podiobooks.com. Fans are able to listen for free to these episodes, picking their own pace to be receiving the files via RSS feed or email -- or simply clicking on them on the Podiobooks.com website.
The upload of the final 41 chapters/episodes was the largest one-day upload of audio files in Podiobooks' history, says Evo. Typically new episodes -- generally one or two chapters -- are made available on a weekly pace.
The adoption of audiobooks as cell phone content will be steadily increasing, Evo believes, although a few technical issues need to be resolved before the uptake is universal. He says that Podiobooks has been in discussion with Nokia and other cell phone players.
THE ONION FILES is 6th most popular release at Podiobooks.com
March 24, 2008 -- In its first month on Podiobooks.com's audio book charts, The Onion Files has cracked the Podiobooks Top Ten. This is a "list of the most popular books by number of subscriptions in the last thirty days," says Podiobooks.com's co-founder, Evo Terra. Currently Major General Val Pattee's spy thriller is at the number 6 spot.
Episodes may be accessed through Podiobooks.com. Fans are able to listen for free to these episodes.
First episodes of THE ONION FILES released as podcast episodes at Podiobooks.com
Feb. 27, 2008 -- The prologue and first four chapters from The Onion Files are now available as podcast episodes through Podiobooks.com. You are able to listen for free to these episodes.
These audio recordings are narrated by the author, Major General Val Pattee, and were recorded at Agio Publishing House's home studio. General Pattee is at the forefront of a wave of authors creating their own indie audio books to meet the growing demand for content as MP3 listening devices such as iPods, cel phones and eBook readers become ever more ubiquitous throughout the world.
"Releasing chapters as podcoast episodes through Podiobooks.com can provide excellent publicity for the printed book, and for the complete audio book on CD or DVD," notes Bruce Batchelor, publisher at Agio Publishing House. "This is part of the new vision of marketing stories as CONTENT through a wide range of editions and channels, rather than the old publishing model of selling only the printed BOOK and only through book stores."
As each subsequent chapter episode is recorded, it will be available free on Podiobooks.com. As soon as General Pattee has completed recording all the chapter episodes, Agio will release the full audio book as an MP3 CD, manufactured on demand and available through Amazon.com and Lulu.com.
The official launch celebration was held on November 2nd at The Union Club in Victoria. Friends, book industry people and media enjoyed wine, cheese and cake while Val told a few tales about his years as Chief of Intelligence and Security for NATO.
Val was just interviewed on CBC Radio One's All Points West program. Host Jo-Ann Roberts said, "I was hooked when I started reading it... I found myself comparing it to Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum..." Later she expressed surprise that major publishers and agents hadn't snapped up this book and predicted that producers would soon notice it: "It really sounds like a movie."
"The Onion Files flings us into a fast-paced chillingly-possible scenario that never lets up. It is that rarity, a believable spy yarn whose heroes and villains alike seem credible human beings, unlike the comic-strip cut-outs who populate some thrillers. The lifelike characters include a pair of intrepid agents from the Central Intelligence Agency, abetted by a sympathetic Soviet spy, who battle evil master-mind Osama bin Laden and his fanatical cohorts across the world. They are portrayed in such an authentic atmosphere, that many so-called fictional incidents portrayed in it could have actually occurred. [The author] confirms that by saying, 'Many of the anecdotes in my book are the real stuff, encounters during my own experience, altered just enough for security's sake.' "
-- Sidney Allinson, The Times-Colonist, Victoria, BC
The Onion Files is "a very good story and a pleasure to read" says Terry Spence, host of CFAX 1070 Talk Radio with Terry Spence. "It has that feel of truth to it like the guy who wrote it really knows what goes on in that part of our world."
Major General Val Pattee's The Onion Files is an "exciting but at the same time alarming new book," says Rob Breakenridge, host of The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge on CHQR 770AM in Calgary. "Adding to the plausibility is the fact that the author comes to it all very much from an insider's perspective."
Recent and upcoming author appearances: speech at the Royal Victoria Probus Club and presentation at the Western State Law Enforcement Conference in Yakima, WA, in July.
Here are comments by experts who have read the advance reading copy:
"Osama is alive and well in this fast paced thriller about the next major terrorist attack in North America. The destruction of their targets of choice would be much more devastating than the loss of the Twin Towers on 9/11. The author's background makes his descriptions of events all the more credible. Val Pattee retired as a major-general having spent the majority of the time following his fighter pilot career in the highest levels of the intelligence world during the Cold War. One can't help but think that some of his "imaginary" crises are based on similar events from his past. A chilling thought."
-- Lewis W. MacKenzie, CM, OOnt, MSC and Bar, CD, Major-General (ret'd)
"Val Pattee brings a lifetime of real world experience to writing this page turner. The Onion Files has an intricate, compelling and credible plot. One wonders how close to the brink we really are."
-- Gordon Smith, former Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister
"... General Pattee utilizes his vast experience and wide-ranging international intelligence contacts to provide a riveting, imaginative, easy-to-read story line. [The Onion Files] provides a very accurate tutorial ... I strongly recommend that intelligence and homeland security personnel at all levels read this fascinating novel."
-- Lt. Gen. Leonard Perroots (ret'd), former director, US Defense Intelligence Agency
"In all honesty, I was blown away. I would read a few pages, put the book on my chest, and wonder how could Val weave so much into a single paragraph. I've asked myself "could I do it?" The answer was no. You really are very good.
In addition to how well you write, the story was terrific. And, the characters became real. Congratulations, my friend you found a new vocation. I know you will continue to be successful. (It was clever to let us readers know, there would be a follow on with some the same characters.)
I predict the book will be a huge success and look forward to seeing you on the Oprah Winfrey show."
-- Jack Chain, retired 4-star General USAF
We will soon have an audio book edition, read by the author, available at Podiobooks.com. Click here to listen to the first podcast episode (the prologue) as an MP3 file.
To contact the author or for publishing information, please call Bruce Batchelor at 250.380.0998 [Agio Publishing House in Victoria, BC, Canada] or email to bruce (dot) batchelor (at) gmail (dot) com.
Enthusiastic comments and a Best Seller ranking
Val Pattee's THE ONION FILES is catching on with READERS.
"It kept me up all night" - Al S, retired Col RCAF.
"Didn't know I was having drinks with Jim Buchan all those years ago" - Bruce F.
"Sure made for a short flight across the country" - Don M, retired General.
"The cultural divide in the Covered Bazaar was fascinating" - Rich, 16 years old.
"I enjoyed the book and am impressed ... a compelling and moving story ... a bit of Tom Clancy and a bit of Arthur Hailey. The movie should pack them in! Well done" - Jack M, CEO.
"I rationed myself not to finish the book in one gulp ... scary stuff..." - Ursula H, UK.
"I am flat impressed. Your research is phenomenal coupled with your great imagination. The story line is superb and the lead-in suspense really keeps the book in the "page-turner" mode. The concept, which is so terribly believable, is certainly there as we speak." - Bill Goldfein, USAF Col ret.
"It is rare for me to read anything but autobiography or biography but am I pleased that I have made an exception. It was impossible to put the book down and it was the quickest book that I have ever read -- Just great and gripping. With my short history with Special Forces way back in the fifties, although dealing with a very different kind of terrorism in the Malayan jungles, I could relate to dealings with an unseen enemy. Thank you for a wonderful read and cannot wait for the next one." - Vic Steyerman, UK.
"I'm finally taking a few minutes to tell you how much I enjoyed your book. Initially I planned to read it on the flight to Australia but I made the mistake of starting it a couple of nights before we left Palm Springs and by the time we left for the airport I was finished! Congratulations on a superb result. You had me right from the opening to the end. Your storyline with all the suspense and intrigue was gripping. You clearly moved in some fascinating circles during the last few years of your career and you very successfully wove that knowledge into a story that will, I am sure, keep all your readers up late because they can't put it down. Best of all, your closing statement leaves the door wide open for the 'next' one. For Heaven's sake let me know when it is available." - Harv Haakonson, MD, bestselling author
"WHEW!!! I just finished devouring THE ONION FILES by the brilliant Val Pattee and had to email you immediately. Right from the very first page to the absolutely chilling final one it was truly nonstop action. Like the onion of the title, the plot of this amazing book revealed itself page by page, chapter by chapter never lagging in suspense or substance. There were so many twists and turns in this book but the best was that on page 261 -- a complete OHHHH NOOOOO moment!!!! Most of the books that I read would be classified as geopolitical and are pretty frightening but none as scary as THE ONION FILES.
"A few random thoughts: I don't think I'll ever look at a Pringles chip can again without flashing on Kazim's use of it -- I wish I had known Mo when we were in Sardinia -- would have been that much more of a pleasant sojourn especially being regaled by Mo's tales about Jim Buchan. These characters that Val Pattee developed for this book are ones that are so delightful and charming or so despicable that you'll not forget them soon -- fully fleshed out. And his research was, I'm sure, as he actually lived it!!! What a fantastic life Val Pattee has led. I'm just so glad that he's sharing parts of it with the world through his incredible writing as his books tell the kind of dramatic truth that only fiction can tell.
"As the world has witnessed McCain saying that we'll be in Iraq for a hundred years -- that could well be and even longer with the mentality of jihadists worldwide -- they do NOT forget nor forgive -- this will go on forever through the ever-growing numbers and their descendants! Leave it to the Turks to circumvent a seventy-year-old law by calling an aircraft carrier a deep-sea fishing vessel with a flat deck -- that made me laugh out loud. It would certainly behoove the decision makers in government, ours as well as others, to study history. If Alexander the Great had been defeated by the Pashtuns, how can we possibly think that we're any wiser or better? History only keeps repeating itself over and over with much the same conclusion. The minds of Asian and Middle Eastern peoples are such that Westerners can never truly understand even after centuries of study. But I think it really helps people who read this kind of book to get a little bit of a grasp of what's going on since our news certainly does little to enlighten us on a daily basis.
So many times a really terrific book gets to the end and falls flat -- this one had the best ending ever -- made you want more -- fast!!! I've already started talking about this book, to anyone and everyone. It just NEEDS to be read by as many people as possible!!!" - Gail Foster, MYSTERIES & MORE, Novato CA
SALES of THE ONION FILES are doing well. The paperback is being sold at Munro's and Chapters Downtown in Victoria and at Tanner's Bookstore in Sidney. Most of the promotional push has been directing potential readers to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca. At the Canadian site (www.amazon.ca), THE ONION FILES was showing in 6th place among bestselling espionage thrillers at one point in late November! That was AHEAD of fellows like Follett and Ludlum. Pretty amazing for a first-time author in the first month after his book's launch. Well done, Val!
Thank you!
This is not one of the dams in The Onion Files, but when I led this section of 433 ETAC CF5s out of Bagotville, Quebec to the giant James Bay hydroelectric dam then under construction, the thought did cross my mind that it would be quite a target! The CF5 was a great little fighter, our role all singing, all dancing, air to air, air to ground, guns, bombs, rockets, photo recce, and it took me all across North America, the high Arctic, to South America and to Europe.
The author as Assistant Chief of Staff Intelligence, the J2, for NATO Europe, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe, Mons, Belgium. NATO was then 16 nations and each contributed to the daily intelligence "take" which crossed my desk, from Tom Clancy style satellite photography to clandestine electronic eavesdropping.
A young cadet learning to fly on the famous Harvard (T6 in the USAF) at #2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. A later tour flying instructing on the Harvard and Tutor aircraft led to about 1200 hours in the venerable beast.
This one taken in Claresholm, Alberta became a recruiting poster in the 1950s.
That's the author in the inverted Tutor, forerunner of the famous Snowbirds.
Checking out in an F86 Mark V Sabre jet, and getting my Mach Buster pin for going faster than the speed of sound.
Kings of the sky! A section of 4 F86 Mark IV Sabres, Canadian built with the Orenda 14 engine, 439 Fighter Squadron out of 1 Fighter Wing, Marville, France. We flew with six loaded 50 caliber machine guns and ranged from Boda, Norway to Italy, airfighting with anyone and everyone.
A Squadron exchange with a Mirage Squadron at Nancy Ochey, France followed a challenging flight across the Atlantic, not quite like Lindbergh's but solo just the same, and a flight in this Mirage.
