"I published The Guys Who Spied for China, in 2009,” said Gordon Basichis. “To my surprise, it was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Fiction Awards of that year."
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (PRWEB) April 20, 2021
Minstrels Alley, the publisher of Gordon Basichis’ roman a clef, The Guys Who Spied for China, is discounting copies of the novel as there is renewed interest on the novel, which detailed part of China’s espionage practices within the United States. The book’s author sees no small irony in the new focus on China’s dramatic attempt to gain global preeminence. As evidenced in recent Associated Press report, “US, Europe, NATO close ranks to counter ‘aggressive’ China,” the author points out the dramatic turnabout in the world’s concern as something that took a long time coming. Such concern has resulted in increased sales for Basichis’ novel, which was first published in 2009.
“I am by no means the only soul who actively participated or wrote books and articles, regarding China’s operations as it strove to become the preeminent power by the mid-twenty-first century,” said Basichis. “There were dozens of persons in both the private and public sector who were issuing dire warnings back in the eighties and nineties, or at the very least by the turn of the twenty-first century. While there were any number of arrests, as well as the disclosure of wholesale theft of intellectual property, both military and industrial, the bulk of these warnings about Chinese intent were often ignored."
“I published The Guys Who Spied for China, in 2009,” said Basichis. “To my surprise, it was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Fiction Awards of that year. The sentiment at the time seemed to be for the warm and fuzzy, or the page turning adventure. My novel was anything but warm and fuzzy. But it did describe through a fiction narrative China’s espionage networks and their structure, during that time. It was one more contribution to the concept that we in the west were in for some very stiff and often nefarious competition."
Basichis noted that China’s methodology has changed since that period. He pointed out as China has gained in strength and has become a military and technological power, its means of espionage and theft of intellectual property has become a much more sophisticated endeavor. He referenced how the dire warnings about China’s long-ignored rise to power has finally come to pass.
“The west went for the short money and lacked any long term projection of the consequences of what it may be creating,” said Basichis. “There was money to be made, and many businesses made it. Unfortunately, some of those profits came at the overall expense of this nation."
“So now there is renewed interest in The Guys Who Spied for China,” said Basichis. “How did this all happen? How in the west do we deal with it now? All of these are excellent questions. Only they are maybe twenty or thirty years too late. I am delighted Minstrels Alley is discounting the book so more readers can have access. The publisher is seeing sales not just in the U.S. but from different parts of the world. The book, though fiction, should help readers see what really went on.”
Basichis noted he is about how so many in power and industry, despite all warnings, either didn’t see or chose to ignore all the warning signs that China would ultimately pose a threat to the American economy. “As noted, my book is one infinitesimal part of a much larger picture,” said Basichis. “It’s nice that the western nations are finally scrambling to counter an emerging China. “But I have to wonder, what are the future challenges are they currently missing?”
Background: Minstrel’s Alley is a Los Angeles based independent publisher that seeks to bring adventure back into the publishing industry by publishing books that have popular appeal but with more complexity than the standard mainstream fare. The new publishing group distributes its books through Amazon, Kindle, and assorted Internet outlets as well as through bookstores around the country. You can view Minstrel’s Alley at http://www.minstrelsalley.com
