Mission to Seoul by Thomas Woods eBook is Free Through 31 May 2015

Looking for an intriguing espionage read while traveling this summer? We've got you covered. Through the end of May, 2015, we're offering the eBook version of Mission to Seoul by Thomas Wood for free on Google Books. There's no catch and this eBook will not self-destruct 30 seconds after reading it. Just kick back and enjoy a good read from your friends at Grave Distractions Publications.

Mission to Seoul Synopsis

During the 1970s the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was a strange mixture of modern industry and medieval traditions, of Christianity and Shamanism, of a democratic façade masking a brutal totalitarian dictatorship. The dictator’s wife was assassinated by his enemies, and the role of First Lady fell to the dictator’s daughter. No one was free of suspicion; no one escaped punishment for disobedience.

There were several American families living in the Republic of Korea during that time, descendants of the first missionaries and businessmen to break through the Silk Curtain and settle in what had been until the late nineteenth century The Hermit Kingdom. These people were treated with respect but were under constant surveillance to make sure they did not threaten the regime. Their names, like the names of the Koreans integral to this story, are altered for their protection.

Thomas Wood, a Peace Corps volunteer who specialized in hydraulic engineering, who now works for a prominent American company, took careful notes on the things he heard and saw while he worked in the R.O.K, from 1974—1977. This novel, featuring barely disguised characters participating in thinly veiled events, captures the essence of those days. Boyce Mann’s journey back to the land of his birth, what he finds there, what happens to him there, represent a fiction that Thomas Wood calls “historical fantasy.” His story may not have happened, but it did happen.

You will find this novel as intriguing and fascinating as you did The Year of Living Dangerously, and you will find that it touches you more deeply than that story because Boyce Mann is an American, not an Australian, and he faces his dangers not in a country like Indonesia, not well known to Americans, but in a country that has been military partners with the United States for over 60 years. Read this story carefully, read it with relish, read it for enlightenment about Koreans and about ourselves. Once you begin to read, you will not stop; and once you have finished it you will much more aware of the ambiguities of the international pageant.

Occult Connection Volume 1 by Ken Hudnall

The Occult Connection: UFOs, Secret Societies and Ancient Gods was released to the reading public in 1989 and this represents a digital edition of Ken Hudnall’s classic work. Hudnall’s ideas have influenced a score of recent works on the subject of alien intervention in humanities’ affairs. Throughout human history there has been an invisible hand at work guiding our development to a very precise goal. Author Ken Hudnall uses the now infamous Majestic 12 (MJ-12) documents from the late 1940s as a starting point to uncover a web of deception running the length and breadth of humanity’s collective experience. Working from an ancient aliens theory base, Hudnall explores how the ancient gods of our myths and legends have remained among us in plain sight. Known only as "The Shning Ones", these aliens have traded in their flying chariots, described in ancient texts, for the flying saucers seen all over the world today. Furthermore, these shadowy figures loom in the cigar filled rooms of groups like the Bilderburgs, Council on Foreign Relations, and dozens of other front organizations. But this is just the public face of the insidious alien menace. Hudnall draws connections between these publicly known groups and secret societies operating as an “Oz behind the curtain.” The goal of the true alien driven secret society agenda is not only to obfuscate their presence, but to control humanity for their own nefarious ends. Utilizing the Illuminati as their spring board, these aliens use the legendary men in black as foot soldiers in their crusade of control.

Follow along as the text explores all of the aspects of the UFO phenomenon and their connection between abductions of human by alleged alien spaceships, secret societies, and the ancient gods of history. The Occult Connection: UFOs, Secret Societies and Ancient Gods will leave you questioning every aspect of our collective history and how this manipulation has shaped your life.

The Occult Connection: UFOs, Secret Societies and Ancient Gods title is available in eBook format at fine online retails such as Amazon, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Scribd, and Smashwords.

About Author Ken Hudnall

Military veteran, Captain Ken Hudnall, was an instructor in urban warfare at the United States Army Infantry School and is the author of 40 plus books, including the award winning Manhattan Conspiracy series. The first in the series was written in 1992, but was a chillingly accurate portrait of the terrorist attacks on New York City in both 1993 and 2001. He has appeared on CNN, FOX News, Coast to Coast AM and other major networks as a special consultant in urban warfare. In addition to his works of fiction, he has written extensively on the issues of unidentified flying objects and national security. Ken also hosts a nightly talk show on his radio network that deals with the paranormal, conspiracies, and the unexplained. Ken currently lives in El Paso, Texas with his wife. To find out more about Ken and his radio show, visit his website at www.kenhudnall.com.

Grave Distractions Publications is in the process of converting all of Mr. Hudnall's books from traditional print to various eBook formats.

Steinbeck: Citizen Spy by Brian Kannard

This changes everything we thought we knew about John Steinbeck. After languishing in the CIA’s archives for 60 years, a letter is uncovered in John Steinbeck’s own hand that shatters everything history tells us about the author’s life. Written in 1952, to CIA Director Walter Bedell Smith, Steinbeck makes an offer to become an asset for the Agency during a trip to Europe later that year. More shocking than Steinbeck’s letter is Smith’s reply accepting John’s proposal. 

Discovered by author Brian Kannard, these letters create the tantalizing proposal that John Steinbeck was, in fact, a CIA spy. Utilizing information from Steinbeck’s FBI file, John’s own correspondence, and interviews with John’s son Thomas Steinbeck, playwright Edward Albee, a former CIA intelligence officer, and others, Steinbeck: Citizen Spy uncovers the secret life of American cultural icon and Nobel Prize–winner, John Steinbeck. 

•Why did the FBI admit to destroying elements of Steinbeck’s FBI file when it is accessible through their “FOIA Vault” website?

•Did Steinbeck actively gather information for the intelligence community during his 1947 and 1963 trips to the Soviet Union?

•Why was the controversial author of The Grapes of Wrath never called before the House Select Committee on Un-American Activities, despite alleged ties to Communist organizations?

•Did the CIA influence Steinbeck to produce Cold War propaganda as part of Operation MOCKINGBIRD?

•Why did the CIA admit to the Church Committee in 1975 that Steinbeck  was a subject of their illegal mail-opening program known as HTLINGUAL?

These and a host of other resources leave little doubt that there are depths yet unplumbed in the life of one of America’s most treasured authors. 

Just how heavily was Steinbeck involved in CIA operations? What did he know? And how much did he sacrifice for his country? Steinbeck: Citizen Spy brings us one step closer to the truth. This text includes a note in the introduction from Thomas Steinbeck.

To find out more about Steinbeck: Citizen Spy, visit the book's website or the Grave Distractions Publications page.

Tips for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

After an eyeball-bleeding-stay-up-till-3AM research session, you get an idea. The information you need to complete your project must be in the file cabinets of a government agency. Thinking back to all those History Channel documentaries that reference obtaining documents from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), your head hits your pillow in the sweet belief all of your research problems are solved…Unfortunately, getting documentation via the FOIA isn’t as easy as making a wish to your fairy research godmother.

The FOIA was established in 1966 by President Johnson as a mechanism that allows anyone to request information from the government. (The present mutations of the FOIA can be found at the Department of Justice website here.) In the last few months I’ve been involved in a project that’s forced me to request documents from the Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). The process has been a mind numbing morass of following the precise forms and procedures necessary for completing any FOIA request. Here are a collection of steps and tips to take when making your FOIA request that might make the process go a little smoother than my experiences have been.

1. Go ugly early. Getting any information out of a government agency is going to take time. A FOIA request can take months, if not years, for a government agency to comply with. Spend a little time on the front end making sure the information you need isn’t languishing somewhere outside of the FOIA universe. Many government agencies have “electronic reading rooms” where documents are already on the web. Check those out for the items you’re looking for before wasting your time with an FOIA request.

2. Know who and what you’re looking for. FOIA requests must be made to the specific agency that holds the documentation. There is not mystical FOIA clearinghouse the government has set up to track down your requests. Each government agency has FOIA procedures and a coordinator that handles requests. Before making your request, go to that agency’s website to find out what that particular agency’s FOIA requirements are. A FOIA request can be denied simply on the grounds that you didn’t file your paperwork correctly. The search will also be easier to fulfill if you have a specific document number or a good reason to believe the agency holds the information.

3. Count the cost. The fulfillment of a FOIA request may not be free. The FOIA regulations allow for charges such as: research time, copying fees, and other miscellaneous charges related to your request. If there is a fee schedule available on your target agency’s website, you can get a ball park cost on obtaining the information you requested. There are instances in which these fees may be waived or reduced. If you’re a student, or requesting for an accredited academic entity, many times the fees can be reduced. If you’re willing to get electronic, rather than paper copies, you can reduce your bill.

4. One thing at a time. When you’re ready to make your request, do not lump all of the documentation you need in one request. If your request has 10 documents listed and you get a denial letter, there is no way of knowing which specific document has been stymied. An agency may have only denied one document on the list which could shut down the entirety of your request. If you make separate FOIA requests, you at least know the status of each bit of documentation you need.

5. Sitting by the phone. After you have made your request, agencies must acknowledge they have received your request in 20 business days. If this requirement is not met, you have the legal right to sue the agency in a Federal court. Good luck with that tactic. (Recently the CIA won a FOIA suit on the release of two volumes of their Bay of Pigs History by stating the information could confuse the American public.) If your request has been acknowledged, there is no time limit in which the agency has to turn over documents. Play nice and stay in contact with your FOIA officer. Drop him/her a love letter ever so often checking on the status of your request. While agencies have a “first come first served” fulfillment requirement, a little sugar never hurts to keep the train moving.

6. Try, try again. Your FOIA request can be denied for any number of reasons. A list of FOIA exemptions can be found at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) website. If you’re rejected take heart, you can appeal the decision on any grounds. Your appeal will be taken to the agency’s FOIA committee for review. Use any and all logical and legal reasons you can think of to appeal the denial. Do not be vague or inflammatory in your appeal. No one in the government will respond kindly to, “I have a right to know”. Once again, be professional and play nice. This is also the time to ask questions of your FOIA officer. If your request has been rejected on grounds of a national security interest, ask how long it will be before the documents are declassified. The unsealing of documents varies from agency to agency. For example, the Department of Defense has a fairly regular interval for making documentation declassified while the CIA makes up the declassification rules as they go along. The CIA is also fond of the Glomar denial. In this denial you will receive a letter saying, “We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the information you requested”. Unless you have some compelling piece of evidence that proves the denying agency has the information, you’ve been shut down by the man.

7. The final frontier. If your appeal is denied, you can sue the agency in Federal court. Unless you’re a lawyer, this could be a costly roll of the dice. If the information you’re seeking is that important, speak with an attorney about the possibilities of a lawsuit. Once again, good luck with that route. Lawsuits can take years and thousands of dollars to pursue, so make sure the information is worth it.

The FOIA process is a daunting task, but the rewards can literally be a gold mine. Obtaining information from an FOIA request can be the unique piece of evidence that allows you to tell a story no one has ever heard.