[book review]

13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy

novel by L.A. Starks, paperback, www.lastarksbooks.com

review by Sterling Preston

The protagonist of this novel, Lynn Dayton, is an executive whose successful career has come in no small part from the determination to hoist herself out of the poverty of her childhood and to give her parents and sister a better life. Her mother has recently died of bone cancer, her father’s health is rapidly declining, and her sister has run off to join the Peace Corps.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Dayton has convinced the company she works for to purchase an oil refinery in Houston for $400 million. She is staking her career on being able to turn the refinery’s production around with a self-imposed deadline that borders on insanity.

To top it off, it looks like someone is out to stop her.

In a plot that deals with international intrigue and corruption, 13 Days touches on the timely subject of the production of our nation’s gasoline and jet fuel supply.

L.A. Starks is an industry insider, and it shows in her writing. Just as Tom Clancy hit the thriller scene with technically sound military details, Starks draws on the complexities of how oil is refined to spin a tale of industrial espionage and terrorism.

Check out her website for more of her writing, including some very interesting nonfiction discussions of the oil industry.

SP