Why a Booktrail?
1953, 2000s: A government scientist ‘jumps’ or ‘falls’ from a hotel balcony….
The Coldest Warrior
What you need to know before your trail
In 1953, Dr. Charles Wilson, a government scientist, died when he ‘jumped or fell’ from the ninth floor of a Washington hotel. As his wife and children grieve, the details of the incident remain buried for twenty-two years.
With the release of the Rockefeller Commission report on illegal CIA activities in 1975, the Wilson case suddenly becomes news again. Wilson’s family and the public are demanding answers, especially as some come to suspect the CIA of foul play, and agents in the CIA, FBI, and White House will do anything to make sure the truth doesn’t get out.
Enter agent Jack Gabriel, an old friend of the Wilson family who is instructed by the CIA director to find out what really happened to Wilson. It’s Gabriel’s last mission before he retires from the agency, and his most perilous. Key witnesses connected to the case die from suspicious causes, and Gabriel realizes that the closer he gets to the truth, the more his entire family is at risk.
Travel Guide
Travel back in time to the Cold War and The Coldest Warrior
The author takes this story from a personal history. His uncle Frank Olson died around 2.30 am on November 28, 1953 when he ‘jumped or fell’ from this room on the thirteenth floor of the Statler Hotel in NYC.
Frank was a highly skilled Army scientist and he worked at Fort Detrick in Maryland, a top secret U army facility that researched biological warfare agents.
In June 1975m a report by President Ford and the Rockerfeller Commission looked at ilegal CIA activity and there was a two paragraph account of an army scientist who died in a fall from a hotel window. It was suggest that he might have actually been thrown out rather than having fallen or been pushed.
The author’s account of the similar case in the novel is from the POV inside the CIA.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Coldest Warrior
Destination/location: Washington DC, NYC, Philadelphia Author/guide: Paul Vidich Departure Time: 1950s, 2000s
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