The Sun Never Sets in July

About the Book

Eddie Maakinen never realizes that when he arrives in Finland in 1949 as an exchange student that it will be the beginning of a secret life or that the girl, Pirkko, whom he meets at the University of Helsinki, bearing her own secrets, will play such a large role in his future.

It begins when he, Pirrko and Matti, a student whom he meets at the University, make a spring bicycle trip along the Finnish- Russian border near Savonlinna. Eddie doesn’t think it unusual when Matti drops out before they begin their trip. He is happy to be traveling alone with Pirkko. He accepts Pirkko’s challenge to stray across the border so that he can report that he has been in Russia when he returns home.

Once across, however, Soviet soldiers capture him, which leads to charges that he is a spy. He and Pirkko are separated. Eddie denies that he is there to spy on the Soviets and demands his and Pirkko’s release. Instead he is thrown naked into a shed where he spends a cold, miserable night.

Major Vladimir Vorontsev arrives early the next morning, Eddie almost weeps with gratitude when he is taken from the shed, given hot tea and a blanket, but he is disturbed that he is not released. The Major identifies himself as a member of the MGB, the Ministry of State Security and accuses Eddie of spying. In exchange for the possibility of being released, Eddie sits and spends hours writing down the names of everyone he knows and what they do, including those he has met in Finland. While the Major is not satisfied he reunites Eddie with Pirkko. When he wakes Pirkko is gone and the Major allows Eddie to clean up and provides him with a meal. He is drugged. While drugged, the Soviets subject him to the most vile sexual debasement. When he wakens, the Major shows him a film of his orgy in which he appears to be a willing participant. Eddie is shocked, disbelieving that the heavy-eyed youth in the film is actually himself. The Major suggests that there is a way that his mother will not see the still photos, nor will copies be sent to his college or to national newspapers. Eddie agrees to the Major’s blackmail. From that point on Eddie is encouraged to return to college and seek a career in the Army.

As an officer in the US Army Eddie is always close to exposure when he gains in rank and requires more thorough investigations to be granted higher military clearances that his various jobs require. He becomes an expert in beating the polygraph to avoid detection by the Arny. He maintains a constant flow of information through the years to his handlers. Eddie, while affable among his co-workers, never develops any close relationships with them, men or women. Instead, he takes ‘trips’ to various resorts where his ‘employers’ have prepared a week or two of high living to satisfy his most basic needs.

Eddie’s military career moves steadily upward as he gets his ‘ticket punched’ by serving in Korea, Germany, the USSR and Vietnam. Along the way, he is in contact with his Soviet handlers to include Pirkko who appears while is attending Columbia University, courtesy of the U.S. Army. She reappears off and on throughout his years in the Army, re-igniting their quirky love for each other.

When Eddie retires as a Colonel, he finds himself back in Crescent Hills, New York, with a new mission. He had wanted to settle in the Southwest. But Vorontsev, now grown older, reappears and orders him to return to Crescent Hills where few of the people he knew, growing up, remain. He has a log cabin waiting for him completely furnished. He waits.

Returning home one day, he finds a car in his driveway and inside the cabin, Pirkko, older but still beautiful She has his instructions. While the KGB has been disbanded and given a new name, a hard core of bureaucrats still convinced of Russia’s role in the world, have a vision of destroying their enemies. They see the USA as the prime target. They see that developing and funding the militia movement in the States as one

About the Author

Hugh Matson retired from the Army in 1972 as a Lieutenant Colonel after twenty-one years. He completed tours of duty in Korea, Germany, Russia and South Vietnam where he earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the Paddy Rat award. He was a safety officer in the Philadelphia Water and Health Departments. He retired as a McDonald’s franchisee after twenty years. He is the author of Deep Game, Killer’s Gift, The Sun Never Sets in July, Charlie Robinson’s Revenge, The Drummer Boy, Joe Hakkala’s Luck, Galina, and Just A Life: A Memoir. He lives in Gansevoort, New York with his companion and three cats one of which is a Maine Coon Cat.