Helius Legacy

In December of 1999, a snoopy reporter uncovers a secret that would ruin the Austin, Texas-based Helius Energy company. Carter T. Mason, the CEO, is not going to let that happen and will kill anyone who stands in the way of him making his billions in oil, as his company prepares to go public on January 1.

The reporter has discovered the original contract, as well as the last descendant of the original owner of some oil property Helius owns in west Texas. Helius, under the contract at the turn of the 20th century, could not ever drill on the property or it would revert to the original owner or his descendants, until the expiration of the contract December 31, 1999. Instead, Mason thought he had killed the last of the descendants decades ago and then made billions from drilling oil.

That’s the prologue in the first few pages of this fierce debut novel by O’Keefe. The rest of the thrill ride is a Ludlumesque tempest, with no time for boredom as the paid assassins chase after Caine in California’s Mojave Desert and finally meet for a final showdown in Austin Texas. Caine is unaware of his ancestry—and who’s trying to kill him—but he quickly catches on. You see, Caine just happens to be a survivalist; he has many guns, and the backup of his former French Foreign Legion team to first identify and then help him defeat the evil corporation. He also has the beautiful lawyer, Andrea Marenna on his side. Marenna was the last person the reporter told his secret to before he was murdered by the ruthless Mason’s assassins.

O’Keefe tells a nonstop action story. The narration is told in chapters, giving time and place, with alternative narratives between the good guys and the villains.