This is a continuation of the story of the Sentinels, a group of elite, conservative, intellectuals crusading to do good, by preventing nefarious scoundrels from exploiting the general public. Even so, it is an interesting read from the standpoint of what, if something like this had happened in the past, would the outcome have been.
In the first novel, Fortunes of War, the Sentinels thwart the plans of German Industrialists to establish a fourth Reich following the collapse of Hitler’s attempt to create the third. In the second, Crude Deception, they are opposing the major international oil companies, and their respective countries in their attempt to monopolize the exploration, development and production of the world’s available crude oil.

Needless to say, the Sentinels are successful in stopping the bad guys and life should be much better for the rest of us. Fictional, of course; idyllic, naturally and thought provoking only if you are willing consider the implications of the story beyond the telling. Both books may be considered a cautionary against acceptance of the apparent status quo, advocating that active steps be taken to assure that not only the vested interests make decisions, but those impacted by the outcome have a major input as well.

From the start I was excited about the premise (fighting Big Oil!) and feeling a thrill from the espionage and staying one step ahead of even unexpected threats. I could imagine myself on these missions, trying to catch conspirators red-handed and setting up a plan to thwart their efforts.

There were some awkwardly unbelievable moments (stuff that would never happen in the 40's, like a woman being offered a vice president position in a bank, and a Saudi Prince taking the women's side when a potential business partner unthinkingly slights a woman...) and a really straight-forward narrative that just kind of strolled ahead without much reflection or style. I'm not used to that, preferring more lyrical, deep prose. Aside from those things, it was an enjoyable story - especially if you like spy thrillers and/or international business conspiracies. Or, you know, if you'd like to enjoy a bit of fantasy where women are movers and shakers in international banking in the 1940's. LOL

Here is an attempt at broadening the reader's mental landscape.
Its Author knows the oil industry and gives the measure of the power of a handful of men over our economy.
In 1946, time period of the book, the second in the serie: "The Sentinels" crude oil was as indispensable as it is today. Gordon Zuckerman's book will make you think the next time you are at the pump that one should not endure "a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life" as Senator John Sherman wrote around the 1890s.
That a club of oilmen band together -the subject of the book - to seek a monopolization of the future oil production was not new in 1946.
The Standard oil of John D. Rockefeller was trying to achieve this until the Supreme Court broke its monopoly in 1911. Unfortunately in the 30s big oil evades taxation by offseting royalties paid on production against taxes on profits from refining, distribution and sales at the time the U.S. goes from Exporter to major importer of oil resources.
The heroes of the book circumnavigate the globe to raise capital to give developping nations such as Indonesia, "other choice than to submit to the demands of the major oil company" (p.204) and have them negotiate better oil contracts with their former colonists, the British or the Dutch.
Perhaps this circumnavigation is at times disorienting for the reader as the dialogues are very fact oriented and local color is not always sufficiently developed for a period book. The tempo is uneven and accelerates towards the end as if the conductor looses himself in the meanders of his complex financial symphony.
It is at time a challenge to follow this jet set crowd as the book leaves his reader a bit like one of the characters, Jacques, a Banker lost at sea, adrift-to use this chapter's title: the narration starts with a Wyoming fly fishing escapade, subsequent chapters travel through boardrooms, hotel rooms, clubs boats and restaurants in New-york, Washington, London, Caracas, Arizona. San Francisco, Hong-Kong, Dallas, Geneva, Jakarta, Indonesia, Paris, Antibes, a fishing village in Catalonia, Chamonix, Canada, Seattle, Sidney.

At the end of the book we, readers, are exhausted as if we had been going through all these meetings and cities.
The book's crescendo with its final whirlwind of billions does not help fill up our tanks at $3.20 a gallon. But we were in 1946 and soon GM would create the Cadillac Eldorado taking one for a rocket-like ride at 8 miles per gallon...
Zuckerman gives us insights, in a diverting manner, over the world of international finance and we follow his characters as they painfully gather a fifteen-billion dollars investment fund to give access to capital to sovereign oil nations or independent oil companies. ( )

I think this book was well written, however I think there is a finite group of people who would find this enjoyable. I was not one of the people in that small group. I found the book entirely too droll and rich people fighting other rich people with back room deals and clandestine meetings of bankers just did not excite me. I had a very hard time turning the pages and the payoff at the end really made me feel like I wasted too much time reading the book. ( )

A well written historical temperate thriller, with a combination of fact and fiction, relevant to the world as it is today.

The Sentinels: Crude Deception is a mix of thriller and historical fiction with its central point based on a group of individuals called the sentinels, who have set out to break up a monopoly of seven major oil companies who began controlling the oil industry after World War II. The story begins with the seven American and British oil companies breaking the law by getting together for a private meeting. Jacques, one of the sentinel’s, spies from a nearby fishing stream at a private hunting and fishing club. He records each plane's individual make and model number as each plane passes above him, before landing for the meeting. This information is to prove proof that the seven oil company monopoly has gotten together. This is brought back to the sentinel table and the sentinels quest begins. Zuckerman has taken the element most common to government and politics, those which include the deceptions, greed and secretive societies. He has intermingled them with fiction, thrown in some past history and actual facts, to create this very realistic novel. We all know how controversial oil and government can be. However, Zuckerman takes us back to the era of 1946 and presents a group of heroes, the sentinels, who are not only graduates of an elite American doctoral program, but are also tied in to the global financial district. With a plan to break up the oil group, the sentinels acquire help from some of the current world’s most powerful private investors, Middle Eastern leaders and government officials. Crude Deception covers numerous issues that are relevant to the issues in the world as it is today. The characters in the book are very strong and focused on their agenda, which is to create their own kind of energy development fund, with the intent on putting a stop to the controlling financial grip the seven big oil corporations have on the current market. I found Crude Deception to be slow at first, but it did pick up speed at times and then settle down again. All the sentinels are distinct in their own way and, although they are all distinguished individuals, each have their own little quirks. I recommend this book for those who are into mild thrillers with a twist of history and government, otherwise you will lose interest quickly. ( )