Prelude

A novel about secrets, treachery and the arrival of peak oil. This tale of suspense provides a startling reinterpretation of contemporary events as it dramatizes the central issue of our age--our troubled energy future. It's the summer of 2008, and Cassie Young is a rising star at a prestigious Washington, D.C. energy consulting firm. She's destined for an early partnership and a big payout from a planned merger with a larger rival. Against the backdrop of spiking oil prices, she uncovers an alarming eyes-only report in the chairman's computer files. Contrary to the public pronouncements of her firm and many official agencies, the world may start running dangerously short of oil, the lifeblood of modern society, within only a few years. Her transformation from one of the firm's true believers into a worried skeptic begins when she meets Victor Chernov, a former oil trader, who helps her gain access to the secret report. But when the hunt for the person who compromised the firm's computer system begins, Cassie suddenly finds herself on a collision course not only with her employer, but also with the government of the world's largest oil exporter. Now she must maneuver skillfully in a game of cat and mouse that places her career and ultimately her life on the line. Prelude takes readers to the Canadian tar sands; to the heart of Houston, the energy city; to an offshore drilling platform; and to the streets and suites of Washington, D.C. in a journey that unlocks the mysteries of a substance the world cannot do without.