Böcker av Charles E. Lake

The Chief Executive Officer of a large private corporation has the Board of Director votes to thwart a buyout/takeover bid from a corporate raider. However, several members of the BOD will stop at nothing to ensure the bid is successful, including hiring assassins to kill the CEO to eliminate his deciding, negative votes. If the CEO is absent from the board meeting, the corporate raider will be successful.Complications arise when the young CEO is temporarily incapacitated by an automobile accident caused by his own immaturity and recklessness. To provide the necessary negative votes and protect the corporation from the raider, its astute Chief Operating Officer, governed by his 25+ years of loyal and significant service, covertly hires a look-alike actor to pose as the CEO. The impostor has to successfully deceive the CEO's BOD members, staff, friends, acquaintances, and a TV-viewing audience for at least two months. To further the deception, a young attractive actress is hired to pose as the impostor's platonic girlfriend.Therein lies the plot. The impostor plays his role so well that there are a number of attempts to kill him, thinking that he is the real CEO. What follows are multiple, ruthless attempts to kill the CEO impostor to ensure the corporate raider's success. The impostor's life is further jeopardized by an avenging ex-convict who blames the CEO for the death of his sister.Throughout all the dangers the impostor must not break character. His mission remains the same: Deception without Detection. "No matter what happens, no one must know!"This fast-paced story takes place across many venues: the Big Sur coastal area; the snow-covered mountains of Utah; a cabin in the Adirondacks; mega-yacht moorings at St. Tropez, Nice, and Monaco along the French Riviera; a New York City horse-drawn carriage ride; a rustic cabin in Sleepy Hollow, New York; a retirement village in Arkansas; a movie premiere; a late-night TV show; and corporate guest lodges in California, 1000 Islands, and Florida.The theme of the Imperiled Impostor is the conflict between good and evil, with this additional consideration and question from a Machiavellian treatise: "does the end justify the means". In the story, does deceit and deception justify the final "good" result? The story also depicts the redemption of a gifted and capable person who had been wasting his life in self-indulgence and self-pity.

There are 14 interesting and enjoyable fictional stories in this anthology. The stories are short and independent of each other, which make for easy stop-and-go reading. You will enjoy a wide variety of stories: mystery, murder, suspense, romance, feel-good, and humorous. (Betcha can't read just one!) The Accident: A man decides he must murder to avenge his sister's death. The Bequest: An aunt's untimely death results in regrettable consequences. The Broach: Hostile twin sisters vie for their mother's broach. The Cabin: An unfaithful wife and her lover take steps to murder her husband. The Counselor: An alienated husband gets advice from a stranger. The Diary: A family learns the contents of Grandfather's diaries. The Encounter: An attractive young woman is not afraid to jog by herself. The Letters: Community newcomers are threatened for unknown reasons. The Loan: A young child loans her parents some money. The Mortician: A man must return a favor ... or else. The Pact: A secret platonic relationship spawns a crisis. The Playmate: A mother has aversion to her four-year-old daughter's friend. The Sale: A homeowner lives through a garage sale. The Ticket: A chance meeting is really not a chance meeting. Do you like surprises? You'll find one or two in each story!