Whiplash Hypothesis, The

 Author's Summary

In the 1970's the world experienced two oil shocks, as the price of oil rose from less than $2 a barrel to over $32. Early in 1986, in a three-month period, oil plummeted from $28 down to only $10.  These violent fluctuations significantly altered the economies of virtually every nation on earth. When oil prices went up, they caused unprecedented inflation in the United States and changed forever the face of its industry and commerce. When oil fell back down, countries which export petroleum, such as Venezuela and Mexico, could no longer pay their debts, creating an international debt crisis.  
 
Economists cannot adequately explain how the price of oil swung up and then down as fast as it did. This novel poses a fictional explanation to that mystery, using actual characters and events as background for the fictional characters and plot.
 
The book begins in Vietnam in 1967. The CIA has developed intelligence that points to an arms supply base in Laos. It appears that the North Vietnamese Army troops are being supplied with weapons as they travel down the Ho Chi Minh Trail on their way to the southern cities of Hue, Danang, Nha Trang and Saigon.  A U.S. Marine lieutenant, Sam Weber, is sent on a covert mission to find the base and destroy it. He and a small team parachute into the area, and soon all are killed but Sam. Wounded and imprisoned at the supply base, he is cared for by Liang, the daughter of Sing Han, a Chinese who operates the base. With her father away for a few days, Liang and Sam fall in love, and she helps him escape. They promise to meet again at her home in Hue.
 
But in the chaos of war, Sam is unable to locate Liang.  He returns to the United States, becoming an oil company executive in Southern California. Liang immigrates to the United States, obtaining a college degree at Berkeley. She forms a successful electronics company, and then later is persuaded by her father to buy an oil services company.
 
Sing Han, based in Hong Kong and Singapore, builds up a new business empire in banking, real estate, and oil. He becomes partners with Manuel Carvalho, president of a fictitious Latin American country called Esperanca, and contracts to export that country's oil to international buyers. Esperanca, once destitute, becomes a major oil power as prices increase to over $30 a barrel.
 
Sing Han has also cultivated an American politician named Clay Josephson, aware that he is the son of the U.S. government agent who unwittingly let Sing Han's family die in Shanghai. Through bribery and blackmail, and ignorant of Sing Han's connection to his father, Clay becomes his puppet.
 
After seventeen years, in 1984, Sam and Liang meet by chance and fall in love all over again. All goes well until a murder pulls them into Sing Han's elaborate plot to bring the United States to its knees. He plans to use Esperanca and Clay Josephson to drive the price of oil below $10, causing the formation of a Latin American debtors' cartel. This will give the countries the strength to renege on over three hundred billion dollars of debt, causing widespread banking failures and economic chaos in the United States.
 
As the climax approaches, Sam and Liang travel to Esperanca to try to prevent Sing Han's plot from succeeding. The final chapters increase in drama as the two work behind the scenes to block the formation of the cartel and then escape from Esperanca as the country bursts into civil war.

MWSA Review

Oil, war, love, treachery, and revenge
 
The story begins with the fall of Shanghai in 1948. Chiang Kai-shek's government, about to be defeated by Mao Tse-tung, is fleeing to Taiwan. A young CIA agent promised a wealthy Chinese, Sing Lau, that he would arrange safe passage to the U.S. for his family. But first they must pay a multi-million bribe to the Kuomintang. The CIA agent picked up most of the gold, leaving the family $3 million, but the departure flight was delayed several times. The college aged son of the family, Sing Han, did not trust the Americans to keep their word, and began searching for another means of escape. When he returned home after finding a ship, he found his mother, father, and sister dead and his home on fire. Believing that they were betrayed by the CIA, the son swears an oath of revenge against the CIA agent and the U.S. An pledge he will do anything to keep.
 
1LT Sam Weber, USMC, volunteered to serve in Viet Nam. His first assignment was in Intelligence. Disgusted with the rear echelon officers, and how the war is being conducted, he requests a transfer to a combat unit. In 1967 Weber is selected for a top secret mission into Laos to find an arms depot. Captured by the Laotian guards, he meets a beautiful college girl, Sing Liang. They fall in love and she helps him escape. Her father, Sing Han, is the arms merchant supplying arms to the Viet Cong. Han attempts to capture Weber, but Weber escapes, providing a harrowing adventure. Weber searches for Liang, but cannot find her. Weber has identified Han as the arms merchant, and the CIA sends an operator to his house in Hue. The operator kills Han's wife, and Han swears an oath of revenge against Weber, who knew nothing about the killing.
 
The author jumps the story forward, sometimes by a year, and sometimes by several years as he weaves a complex tale of love, hate, and revenge. The plot is guided by the subtle hand of Sing Han, who is a brilliant businessman, driven by his insane hatred for the U.S., the CIA agent that betrayed his father, and Sam Weber who caused the destruction of his hidden armory in Laos and stole his daughter's heart.
 
Sing Liang and Sam Weber find each other years later.  Liang has a daughter. Her lover was killed before they married, and Sam is divorced with no children.
 
Sing Han has built a world wide business empire, and used the money to finance his grand plan for revenge--manipulate the price of oil, causing debtor nations to default, bringing down the U.S. economy. Sam and Liang discover his plan and attempt to stop it.
 
The reader is provided a basic understanding of accounting and audit practices as one part of the story. In another part, oil well drilling is explained. Both are well written, informative, and entertaining. The author also does an excellent job of describing geographical locations. I particularly enjoyed his description of Singapore, a place I have not visited.
 
THE WHIPLASH HYPOTHESIS is a well written and well edited book. The Viet Nam segments are realistic, reflecting the author's personal knowledge and experiences.
 
Will Sing Han destroy the CIA agent and his family? Will he crash the U.S. economy? Will he succeed in breaking up Liang and Sam? You must read the book to find out. 
 
I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Reviewed by: Lee Boyland (2009)