An Old Familiar Rain

AN OLD FAMILIAR RAIN is a suspenseful murder mystery adventure that takes you on a thrilling train ride across Russia with as many double-crossings as there are railroad crossings and with a trip of 5,758 miles and 7 time zones there are a lot of both. It is also a steamy love triangle involving Anya, the Russian double agent who is practiced at telling lies and seducing men, Peggy McKeever an All-American home-coming queen and housewife and Deke Matthews, a respected businessman with a dark past. Anya is an alluring and deadly Russian spy who seduced and abandoned Deke and for whom he carries a smoldering torch. She is so well-trained at seducing men and faking love she is never sure if she can love. Peggy, who appears to be a dutiful wife and mother, is stronger and more resourceful than anyone imagines. During the trip she must find a way to keep her husband away from Anya not only to save her marriage, but to save his life. Deke is living an idyllic suburban life with a loving family and heading up the Matthews Chemical Corporation. He does not know that ( to quote Rod McKuen's poignant lyrics) "The world he used to know" will bring an "Old Familiar Rain" into his comfortable life. Out of the blue, he finds out his best friend David Symond, who has been in Russia for twenty years, has become an enemy of the Russian Government. and his execution is imminent So begins Deke and his wife Peggy's train journey into Russia under the guise of dedicating a new plant built in Novisibrisk. Once aboard the fabled Trans-Siberian Express, people begin dying under strange circumstances and Deke soon discovers information that confirms it is urgent he get David out of Russia within 48 hours. In order to do so, he must enlist the aid of Anya Ulanovich, the beautiful Russian spy, and secret love of his life, who has already betrayed him once. A love and betrayal that he had hoped to keep secret from his wife, Peggy. Can he risk Anya's betrayal again when it would mean the death of his best friend, destruction of his marriage and perhaps loss of his own life? For 21 Days from the broad plains of Moscow to the Ural mountains, and beyond, murder, mystery and mayhem travels along with the them on The Trans-Siberian Express with every click of the iron wheels on the steel track, with Russian Double Agents, Masai Assassins, and CIA contract killers behind every train compartment door, Deke races against time to save himself - and all he holds dear. Essentially a successful businessman used to making deals and enjoying the good life, Deke is thrown into the murky morass of spy vs. spy where no one can be trusted and no deal is secure. Emotionally conflicted and a rank amateur in a world of professional killers, Deke must learn quickly how to play the game and play it well - or lose everything. Lew Osteen is an award winning writer known for painstaking research into historically based novels and those based on true events.