The Fatted Cats

Author: Ken Wiley

ISBN: 978-1-62137-510-4 (eBook)

170 pages

America emerged from post-World War II as the most powerful and economically affluent country in the world. Poverty lessened, unemployment rates declined, and socially, America was truly the land of freedom, hope, and equal opportunity. The relaxation of the rigid rules that had won the war for us opened the door for greedy, self-centered individuals to take advantage of us. This is a story of those Fatted Cats: the dynasty of the government and industry cartel that controlled the economy with power, corruption, and immortality for nearly half a century. The focus of the story is a young man climbing the ladder of success, who falls reluctantly into the whirlwind of an executive's life with the Fatted Cats. He is quick to learn that nothing, not even murder, stands in the way of their purposes. Amid the corruption, he still manages to bring millions of dollars of business into his corporation and is rewarded appropriately. Despite this, he feels his family slipping away. After pursuing a trail of murder and intrigue around the world, he is faced with rebuke, disgrace, and peril in his and his family's life. With seemingly no escape, this book is a thriller from the start and is based upon many facts about corporate America in that great time period.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ken Wiley was one of five brothers in WWII. Three were in the Army Air Corp, one was in the Army, and he was in the Coast Guard. His brother Joe, co-pilot on a B-17, was killed on his fifth mission over Germany. The third brother, Troy, was also assigned to the Eighth AF and flew B-17s, completing thirty-five missions over Germany. His brother Vic was assigned to the Embassy Service and Ken was a Cox'n of an LCVP landing craft, making seven invasions in the Pacific.

After the war, Ken did his engineering work at Hill College, Texas A&M, eventually completing it at Oklahoma State University. He worked three years for the Soil Conservation Service, two years for Bell Helicopter as a hydraulics design engineer, twenty-four years at Ling Temco Vaught, a diverse defense and commercial business contractor, moving from Liaison Engineer to Vice President of Marketing. Upon his retirement, he was called to help Nation Presort introduce new equipment for eleven years. He then worked independently as an Operational Analyst and consultant. He formed his own company, based on patent and software copyrights that he had designed, and operated the company for eleven years. When he eventually retired in 2006, he wrote and published Lucky Thirteen: D Days in the Pacific with the US Coast Guard in World War II which has been a consistent, best-seller since. Ken now works with veterans as the president of the AHCWWII Roundtable and co-hosts a television show titled Veteran's Voice. Ken is married and has six daughters and ten grandchildren.