Review from Indian Country Today, July 2, 2003
Tecumseh and Terrorists
By Robert J. Taylor
Readers who dismiss "Debt of Conscience," the first novel by Lorenzo Giangrande when they learn of the seemingly unlikely plot will be missing out on a good read.
Giangrande's plot centers on the fulfillment of the prophecy told by the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh before his death in the War of 1812. Tecumseh foretold that a series of signs would lead to the unifications of all the American Indian tribes who in turn would reclaim their homelands from the United States. This amalgamation into one body politic, dubbed the National Coalition of American Indian nations, plans to use the laws and courts to reclaim what has been fraudulently taken from them since the European incursions into Indian country began in the 14th century.
If only life were that simple.
In the midst of the National Coalition's unification strategy is its effort to have large tracts of unused federal land, including the nuclear testing area near Los Alamos, N.M. "returned to the previous owners." Indian lawyers painstakingly research their case and present it to the Undersecretary of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, but for naught because the corrupt official is a pawn in a plot by Iraqi terrorists. The undersecretary receives a "six-figure favor" from the terrorists for making the land claim go away long enough for them to hatch a scheme to cripple the North American economy that involves the Los Alamos territory.
The terrorist plot devised by Giangrande is just as believable as anything Tom Clancy has come up with in the past few years, including the Japanese starting World War III. The Iraqi economic and ecological terrorism plot hinges on lowering the water level of Lake Erie by draining it through underground tunnels in Ohio into storage tanks and on to underground caverns at Los Alamos created by nuclear test in the 1950s. The lowered water levels in the Great Lakes lead to the closing of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the economic stability of Canada and the United States. In the meantime, OPEC does its part for stability by halting crude oil production as an act of mourning for the accidental dissection of the dictator of Iraq by an American laser-guided bomb.
“Whether you have the courage to admit it or not, we owe the Natives of America a very large debt,” writes Giangrande in recognition of the relationship between America and Indian country. “It cannot be measured in dollars… and until we recognize that debt and take the painful, but necessary steps to make a meaningful attempt at reparations, our country will never realize its potential.”
The research in “Debt of Conscience” is top drawer from the anthropological background to insights on American Indian mysticism and spirituality. Giangrande also demonstrates a strong journeyman understanding of the quagmire of modern day international relations.
Giangrande should be considered an expert on the impact of the lower water levels in the St. Lawrence Seaway based on his experience in the United States Navy and the Merchant Marine in the Great Lakes. He is a member of the engineering department of Oglebay-Norton Marine Transportation Services Company and a former crewmember of the fleet ballistic submarine U.S.S. Stonewall Jackson. In addition, Giangrande holds a marine engineering license and a Master’s certificate for the Great Lakes.
Fans of the spy novel or international thriller looking for a break from the established list of authors in these fields will enjoy “Debt of Conscience” and it deserves an honest recommendation.
The book was published by Lorenzo Giangrande in 2001. It is available by contacting 1st Books Library on the Internet at www.1stbooks.com or by calling (800) 839-8640.
Review by M. Bates for Allreaders.com
Writing before 9/11 and the demise of Saddam Hussein, Lorenzo
Giangrande's Debt of Conscience foresaw the mid-east embroilment in a way that produced a different end ... using uniquely different means.
With terrorism and violence as a backdrop, Debt of Conscience tells the story of James and Samuel Tall Feather, Native American twin brothers, lawyers expert in Constitutional Law, and spiritual leader John White Eagle, as they mount a compelling case before the Supreme Court in an effort to force return of Native American tribal lands from the U.S. government.
Excitement and suspense ensue as friends Charlie Juarez and Tommy Wild Horse become entangled in the world of terrorism in their attempt to solve the mystery of the devastating siphoning of the Great Lakes of its waters, shutting down the St. Lawrence seaway and all transportation commerce on them.
Adding to the thrills, Janet Long, secretary in the Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Land Management, and Samuel Tall Feather have fallen in love, but she has also attracted the unwanted attention of Hans Laslo, an Arab hired assassin whose superiors fear identification, and for that Janet must become his next victim.
The interweaving of events and conclusion will keep you breathless to the last page. Written with force and courage, Giangrande knows his subject well. His intimate knowledge of the Great Lakes is a product of years on its waters as a merchant seaman. He has served as a member of the Engineering Department for various freighter companies whose bulk carriers ply the Great Lakes. His latest venture has him aboard an ocean freighter-supply mission to the Gulf region which left before the Iraq/U.S. conflict.
In Debt of Conscience, Lorenzo Giangrande's portrayal of Native Americans as hero characters, who are well educated and possess political savvy and integrity, is very refreshing and inspiring. This is a great book that would make a great movie.
Review by Sharon Schulz-Elsing for Curled Up With a Good
Book
Engineer and nuclear sub veteran Lorenzo Giangrande's debut
novel Debt of Conscience is a passionate revelatory glimpse
into secrets of U.S. sociopolitical guilt and economic
vulnerability to terrorism. In a narrative spanning from the
American Southwest and northern Great Lakes to the breeding
grounds of hatred in the Mideast and the halls of power in
Washington, D.C., Giangrande weaves together disparate
storylines -- one of Native American nations determined to see
their sovereignty recognized and crimes against them redressed
by the highest law of the land, the other of an Iraqi madman
plotting to destroy vital lines of commerce in an act so bold
and unexpected that none can be prepared.
In 1813, an alliance of Native American nations led by the
great Shawnee warrior and prophet Tecumseh made a stand
against the military might of a young U.S. government that had
broken so many promises to native peoples, usurping their
lands and attempting to exterminate those who would live in
peace with the white newcomers. On the eve of the battle,
Tecumseh saw his own death and the scattering and diminution
of the native nations in a vision. But he also prophesied that
two warriors would arise in eight generations from the land of
red stone and hot sand who would unite their people and return
them to their rightful place as a sovereign nation.
More than a century and a half later, the birth of twin
boys descended from the Shawnee in New Mexico on a Pueblo
reservation heralds the imminent fulfillment of Tecumseh's
prophecy. Educated in history and law and schooled in Native
American traditions and in the legacy of crimes against their
people by their tribal elder foster father, the brothers lead
the charge to galvanize the sundry native nations into a
coalition that will ultimately take on the Supreme Court in a
bid to see the wrongs against Native Americans since before
the inception of the United States redressed. But their
rightful challenge weakens the U.S. in international eyes, and
the popular sitting President, the man covertly responsible
for Saddam Hussein's assassination, finds himself under
pressure to see this problem resolved, and quickly.
But an insidious Iraqi terrorist driven to cripple the
hated U.S. threatens American power and standing from a vastly
different direction. He has laid out a plan to take out the
vital St. Lawrence Seaway commercial shipping lane by draining
Lake Erie, and he will stop at nothing to see his scheme come
to fruition.
Although occasionally lamed by stilted dialogue and weak
characterization, Debt of Conscience is an impassioned
disclosure of federal crimes that have yet to be righted, and
of assailable targets the current war on terror has not taken
into account. Author Giangrande displays an almost Clancy-esque
devotion to detail in his descriptions of the Great Lakes and
the ships that travel them, as well as to little known facts
about the Supreme Court, technologies employed by the military
and the story's terrorists, and myriad other aspects of his
tale. In spite of this novel's weakenesses, make no mistake --
the real-life truths behind its story are important ones that
every U.S. citizen should understand.
The original review may be viewed at: http://www.curledup.com/debtof.htm
Review from the Journal Gazette, February 2002
Woodburn author dreams up thriller
By Rick Farrant
There are a fair number of terrorist-based books
spawned by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
What makes "Debt of Conscience" (1st Books
Library; $16.95) so interesting is that its author began
writing the thriller in 1995 and included mirror images
of today's culprits - fictional folks like Saddam Hassan.
"Sadly," says first-time Woodburn author
Lorenzo Giangrande, "our vulnerability was
validated Sept. 11. But I could see this coming ever
since the gulf war."
More specifically, he says, he saw the seeds of
"Debt" in dreams: "Literally, the
characters and the story I dreamt. The whole premise I
dreamt."
Giangrande, a talkative, beefy 52-year-old
engineering officer aboard Great Lakes cargo haulers and
a former Navy enlistee, will visit Barnes & Noble on
Saturday to discuss his book and sign copies of it.
His tale has two focuses: discrimination of American
Indians and a terrorist plot to drain Lake Erie, thus
crippling the shipping and trade water supplies.
The first element stems from a lifelong disdain for
the injustices brought upon American Indians. The second
is linked to his longtime employment with a shipping
company in Cleveland.
He says draining Lake Erie is imminently plausible,
and he lays out piece by piece, a hypothetical plan.
doing so, he argues, is no more tipping the hand for
real-life terrorists than what "Tom Clancy did
when he had a Japanese airliner fly into the White
House."
Further, it is a threat that should be taken
seriously.
"The Great Lakes, " he says, "are
something that people take for granted, even more than
our freedom. Water diversion is perhaps the single most
critical issue.
"I wrote it really as an entertainment piece -
something that's fun to read. But there are also lessons
here.
"What might have been fantasy 10 years ago,
fiction five years ago, is today's headlines."
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