William Mueller
Let the Fall of Rome be a Lesson
Author Infuses Meaningful Message of Moderation into a Compelling Collection of Stories
While the extravagance and impulsion of the ‘90s usually call to mind corporate success and instant dot-com wealth, the effects of a booming economy were far-reaching, causing many to abandon self-restraint for a taste of the material world. In all five stories, Mueller treats readers to a variety of characters whose flaws and acts of nobility unfold on a stage that mirrors America’s contemporary indulgent behavior.
"Rome Revisited,” focuses on Charlie Young, a West Point man who falls in love with a discontented young woman named Lisa Cravant. The story chronicles the spring and summer months of 1994, when Charlie is set with uncertainty about his future and surrounded by peers who seem to have lost their scruples to the good times offered in this carefree decade. This includes his friend, David Gordon, who suffers a fall from grace that is spurred by his greedy nature. Charlie is targeted by David’s schemes, and his chances with Lisa are thwarted by a well-heeled intern at Georgetown University Hospital. All of these events are framed by the merrymaking and high-spirited atmosphere of Alexandria, Va. and Dewey Beach, Del. An affair, a betrayal of friendship and insatiable young appetites heat up the summer and lead to an explosive Independence Day.
The four short stories immerse readers in different aspects of military life, where noble men and women must be wary of power-hungry colleagues. “The Crusaders” completes the collection with a spellbinding tale of two Americans in London, one of whom is led astray by passionate misjudgments as the Sept. 11 tragedies unfold in the United States.
William Mueller was born in 1961, in Rochester, New York. He graduated from the University at Buffalo and American University in Washington, D.C. From 1985 to 2004 he worked for the U.S. Navy, for which he had supported military operations in Europe and throughout the Americas. He is a national security consultant, engineer, and lives in Alexandria, Virginia. He is the author of The Noble American and The Magnificent Man, both works of fiction.
Mueller is an interesting writer who has a perceptive way of retelling history through fiction. He preserves the past and speaks to the future.
In the days that followed I worked and golfed and golfed and worked, and Gordon grew pale between my quickening steps. Lisa and I were in a lull, but for Gordon it was about this time that everything was coming to a head.
"So David, what do you have for me today?" inquired Harry impatiently.
"I'm closing in on that other lead. Don't you remember the connection in Moscow I was telling you about?"
"When, David—when?"
"It should be any day now, sir."
"I'll give you to the end of the week."
"But, sir—"
"No more excuses, David." Harry Taylor sighed heavily and then after a long pause offered, "All right, David, I'll tell you what I will do. I'll give you to the end of the month, and that is it—you got it?"
"Yes, sir."
Inevitability emerged after an anxious period that the most important people of the law firm were already upset and disappointed. This was his last chance and with commendable hustle Gordon gave it his best shot. It was a gamble, but Harry was a betting man. The board of directors, who accepted the idea only because Harry was behind it, decided to let Gordon run with it until he fell short of giving them distress. A trading scheme descended from the secret Pentagon connection to the Kremlin was a worthy aspiration, a valuable business venture for any firm involved in international politics, and besides there was one reassuring tale that Gordon knew the chief of science and technological intelligence in the Russian embassy, and another that he dined in Georgetown with people attached to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Just why these tales were a source of interest to Zork, Spaeder & Yum is quite easy to see.
Harry Taylor—the last name I'm not so sure is legitimate now—was a shrewd and wily man who meticulously planned his business activities. The name was probably intended for me and was probably devised in a calculating and thoughtful way the moment that he was put in charge of the business of recruiting an inside man—when he was charged to go to Europe and find an ambitious and grasping man of war. It was David Gordon who had been trailing about the red-light district that last night in Frankfurt in an eager and ready state, but it was Harry Taylor who came up to him on the street, pulled him into a club, and made him familiar with the fact that his law firm was looking for a few good men.
I suppose Harry Taylor knew the type who would fill the bill, knew it straightaway. Gordon grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His father worked hard but was unable to provide the family much in the way of opportunity. The reality was that Gordon had a splendid childhood, like mine a childhood imbued with family and religion and much fun. Upon graduating from high school, he would go to Brooklyn College, the same place his brother and two sisters went to study. But in Gordon's mind, this meant that he would be stuck in Brooklyn forever, living a dreadfully dull borough existence—the land of plenty would be always on the other side of the East River, just out of reach. So when West Point made their selection based upon demonstrated potential, he took them up on it.
