Portraits in Oil

Two men worlds apart are both on the verge of losing everything they hold dear as a result of a plot by Iran, to depose the king of Saudi Arabia and seize control of the Saudi Arabian oil fields. The king's retaliation to the plot floods the market with crude oil-a move intended to bankrupt Iran. The fluctuating oil price disrupts economies around the world and throws the lives of these two very different men into disarray. Travis Parker of Houston, Texas has lost his engineering job. His marriage, family, and home are hanging by a thread as oil companies restrict expenditures, drilling in the Texas oilfields ceases, banks fail, and suppliers fall into bankruptcy. On the other side of the world, Mohammad Aboud, Iranian soldier-turned-terrorist, questions his religion and its leaders. This gripping tale of the struggle to cope with the consequences of vast fluctuations in the price of crude oil will resonate with readers who are dealing with the same problems. Author Louis Leon spent his entire career designing and constructing oil and petrochemical facilities in the United States, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China. His writing is based on that experience. Louis and his wife of sixty-six years live in Sugar Land, Texas. They have lived in the Houston area for the past sixty years and raised three daughters there.