Performance Anomalies

FOR RELEASE IN JANUARY 2013:

Victor Robert Lees provocative debut spy thriller introduces a protagonist to rival the most memorable espionage heroes. Cono is a startling young man of mixed and haunting heritage who has been gifted or cursed with a hyper-fast neurological system. An orphan and a loner, he acts as a freelance spy, happy to use his strange talents in the service of dubious organizations and governments until, in Kazakhstan, on a personal mission to rescue a former lover, he is sucked into a deadly maelstrom of betrayal that forces him to question all notions of friendship and allegiance.

Relevant to our times, PERFORMANCE ANOMALIES explores the expansion of Beijings imperial reach into Central Asia, and the takeover of Kazakhstan. Conos main adversary is a brutal Beijing agent whose personality has been twisted by the Cultural Revolutions devastation of his family. Victor Robert Lees topical depiction of a Beijing government pursuing territorial expansion resonates with the current tensions over Chinas claims on the entire South China Sea.

PERFORMANCE ANOMALIES travels from Brazil and Stanford to Almaty and the Tian Shan mountains, covering a jarring emotional landscape along the way. The fate of an oil-rich nation the size of Western Europe is at stake. So, too, is a hidden stockpile of weapons-grade uranium. The Beijing agent craves Cono's suffering; a jihadi cell wants him dead. As the human cost of his mission escalates, Cono realizes that he must turn his strange talents toward higher deeds in the future if by his guile he can survive the explosive present.