LAWYER'S STRANGE DEFECTION CAUSES WORLDWIDE REACTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200740011-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2004
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: March 3, 1968
• Content Type: NSPR

DELTA DEMOCRAT
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S-12-1952
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VANISHED By Fletcher Kne-1
bel, Doubleday & Co. $5.95, 407
pages.
Reviewed By
ROSALIE M. RAPHAEL
A .prominent Washington attor-
qy disappears under odd cir-
cumstances setting off a series
of explosive reactions that shake
national and international poli-
tics to theft foundations. Stephen
Greer, confidante of the Presi-
dent, and of impeccable repute,
is the focus of the widespread
search that ensues. This is in-
tensified when there are two
more missing persons of h i g h
significance in the fields of sci-
ence and research. Investiga-
tions seem to reach an impasse
of frustration in trying to turn
up clues and there are wild ru-
mors and speculation as to what
has happened to 'the men and
.why.
This is a story set in a not so
distant future and President
Rondebush's press secretary,
Eugene R. Culligan, is in main
the narrator of the mysterious
events that occur at breakneck
speed.
It is a Field Day for the news
media both domestic and for-
eign and reports "on good auth-
ority" run rampant as to the.rea-
sons and secrets surrounding the
vanishing of the three men.
SUBSEQUENT investigation
and dogged research uncover a
possible connection between the
three men and begin Eo bare. a'
snarled and intricate pattern of
strange relationships and also-a. baffling 'conspiracy of silence on
finale could take place. Only in
some far off Messianic age could
it happen.
Ironically enough, there are a
number of subversive manoeuv-
erers.in this one, but the popular
the case from many quarters.
Mr. Kriebel is a gifted writer
and the mercurial pace of his
narration keeps the reader in-
trigued.with what he has to relate.
His "Seven Days' in May" was
a thriller and he utilizes some of
the same technique in creating
an atmosphere of impending dis-
aster, in "Vanished." - .
This novel is one that ostensib-
ly reaches a "happy 'ending,"
but in a sense, this is the very
feature that weakens the book,
as the complicated under plot is
as fantastic as the possibility of
it happening this way.
The frantic search for the men
reaches from Washington to the
South Pacific with stopovers in
all sorts of places. The b a s i c
idea is just peachy, :but man has
whipping boy of the past few.
years, the C. I. A., is pictured
as the villain of the piece. ' One
would think that the C.I.A.._was
an alien organization an that
all its efforts on behalf of the
United States were engineered
by an enemy. I, for one, don't
go along with Mr. Knebel's views
on this. In an age of deception
and nationalistic commando
methods, a few seemingly devi-
ous tries on our own part are
merely for self preservation.:
Naivete can no longer exist, in
even a Democracy, ' if it hopes,
to survive.
This novel is exciting, sus-
penseful and timely. Read it and
find out for yourself, and in do-'
ing so one thing that will have.
"Vanished" is temporary bore-;
a long..ways to go before such a'dom.
Approved For Release 2005/08/22 : CIA-RDP88-01350R0,002007400.11H
TAT