Joey Torino is a man who has tired of the busy, and dangerous, life he has led, and has simply decided to opt out.  He is done with all that—the pressures of doing something that someone else wants him to do, the risks of doing things he questions, resents, or even disagrees with. Andhe has managed to escape that life, quietly, without fanfare or animosity, and with just enough income to be able to live, in the northern forests of Maine, in the secluded, modest style he prefers. And he is happy in his simple life here.But then a message from his past arrives. Pen Highsmith has another difficult mission for him, and although those dangerous episodes in Russia are long past now, Joey’s "special skills" are needed again.Joey faces a difficult situation, involving the Russians, a complicated low-key civil conflict, ancient suspicions and animosities, and a ruthless, relentless enemy, hidden in the mountains—in Afghanistan.  And the monumental investments of the Wilde Oil company might be put at risk, under certain circumstances and in some situations. There are clear risks, and potential dangers, which have to be dealt with and surmounted, in a country, in a region, which is complicated and potentially dangerous. So Highsmith reaches out to Joey Torino.

Retired US Ambassador John J. Maresca draws on his personal papers to offer a first-hand account of his role in negotiating the end of the Cold War with the USSR. As a special American Ambassadorial envoy, he symbolically opened direct US diplomatic relations with each of the newly independent states from the for-mer USSR following its dissolution. He recounts the situation in the region during that period, and how it has evolved into the situation of today. Maresca analyzes Putin’s role and objectives, and concludes that the USA and the West in general must steadfastly oppose Putin’s on-going effort to re-assemble Moscow’s control over the full geographic scope of what was the USSR, starting with Ukraine.

Joey Torino is a man who has tired of the busy, and dangerous, life he has led, and has simply decided to opt out.  He is done with all that—the pressures of doing something that someone else wants him to do, the risks of doing things he questions, resents, or even disagrees with. Andhe has managed to escape that life, quietly, without fanfare or animosity, and with just enough income to be able to live, in the northern forests of Maine, in the secluded, modest style he prefers. And he is happy in his simple life here.But then a message from his past arrives. Pen Highsmith has another difficult mission for him, and although those dangerous episodes in Russia are long past now, Joey’s "special skills" are needed again.Joey faces a difficult situation, involving the Russians, a complicated low-key civil conflict, ancient suspicions and animosities, and a ruthless, relentless enemy, hidden in the mountains—in Afghanistan.  And the monumental investments of the Wilde Oil company might be put at risk, under certain circumstances and in some situations. There are clear risks, and potential dangers, which have to be dealt with and surmounted, in a country, in a region, which is complicated and potentially dangerous. So Highsmith reaches out to Joey Torino.

Retired US Ambassador John J. Maresca draws on his personal papers to offer a first-hand account of his role in negotiating the end of the Cold War with the USSR. As a special American Ambassadorial envoy, he symbolically opened direct US diplomatic relations with each of the newly independent states from the for-mer USSR following its dissolution. He recounts the situation in the region during that period, and how it has evolved into the situation of today. Maresca analyzes Putin’s role and objectives, and concludes that the USA and the West in general must steadfastly oppose Putin’s on-going effort to re-assemble Moscow’s control over the full geographic scope of what was the USSR, starting with Ukraine.