Golden Gate

Golden Gate is set in Viet Nam, the Mediterranean, the deserts of Arabia, and is the evolving story of Padrick Marcus Michael (Tooley) O’Toole. A bloodied vet even before he served in Nam, Tooley falls in love, marries and sees his life shattered by events. He avenges wrongs, and endures the ravages of war. With his brother-in-law he starts work for the CIA, and becomes enmeshed with the secrecy of disposal of nuclear waste in the hotbed that is the Middle East. Is the burial of the waste or the deaths of terrorists yet another cover like the story of his first ship?

Tooley woke from a dream spanning millennia. Was it real? Did he want it to be? A veteran of NAM, now CIA operative, he just witnessed the death of his brother-in-law at sea. The culprits were pirates. He and Hung were guarding a secret shipment of American nuclear waste destined for burial in the sands of Arabia. Can the desert sands hide such a secret? Amir bin Ubaidi, a junior Saudi General is training Force Ten at an undisclosed desert location. This became a serious problem for others. The CIA, the Mossad, even parts of the Saudi military are unaware of the clandestine unit. The unit’s first task was to transport five terrorists, The Five, to their desert jail. Those terrorists have been sentenced to life at hard labor after deadly attacks in Riyadh. Why was their jail … at a huge gold mine? The Five worked in Tunnel Eight unseen by satellites or known of by the world, until … their escape. Colonel Khalid activated the arm switch, triggering the fuel shut off valve. The helo ahead plummets from the skies. Were there global consequences? Were The Five connected to the wastes? Why were the Israelis interested?

Donal (DP) Tolan was born late in the war years of WWII in coastal New England. Raised by a stern but loving mother and a happy go lucky but older father, Donal loved books and adventure. He attended both parochial and public schools, and graduated from high school in 1962. He joined the Navy to see the world and saw much of the Pacific, including service in the Republic of Viet Nam as an advisor. As a retired Naval Officer, Donal gave a technical slant to this novel. Two other novels, Sooley Base and Kashan Kashmeeri, based on the evolving story of the central characters of Golden Gate, are planned.