Excerpt of the article "All Booked Up" from the New York Daily Mirror Dumped by: Nekura_Hoka from the PC Version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. 7/6/05 -------------------------------------------- "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth" Author: Nastasha Romanenko Reviewed by George Franklin Some topics in the recent American past have the immediacy and the power that still engage our collective imagination. Names like, "The Grassy Knoll," or "Roswell," roll off our tongue with deliberateness reserved by most other nations for holy lands. With this new non- fiction account from Nastasha Romanenko, Shadow Moses -- the scene of a nuclear siege two years ago -- is set to join their ranks. Official history states that the takeover of a nuclear weapons disposal facility on a lonely outpost in the Fox Islands, Alaska was the work of a radical right-wing group. Their demands for the release of group members incarcerated in federal penitentiaries were never met, and the incident was speedily resolved by the successful deployment of a commando unit. B.S., the author asserts. Romanenko says that she served as an advisor to the Nuclear Emergency Search Team, and deconstructs what she claims to be a cover-up story by the government with precision. According to the author, Shadow Moses Island was nothing less than the U.S. Army's testing grounds for a top-secret weapon known as Metal Gear REX, an all-terrain bipedal tank with advanced nuclear capabilities. As for the facility's takeover, Romanenko alleges that it was the U.S. military's own shadowy "wet-works" force, known as "FOXHOUND," that staged an armed insurrection in a bid for REX's possession. The government responds to this crisis by sending in a lone operative, a former FOX- HOUND member known only by the code name "Solid Snake," into Shadow Moses. His infiltration is aided by a remote mission control team consisting of an unidentified "Colonel Campbell," a FOXHOUND medical chief "Naomi," a radar and electronics expert "Mei Ling" (supposedly a teenager), and the author herself. Once on the island, "Snake" joins forces with Metal Gear's developer-turned- prisoner "Otacon" to eradicate the weapon of mass destruction. Among the other remarkable characters that make an appearance in Romanenko's expose is another FOXHOUND commando, a revolver- virtuoso called "Shalashaska" a.k.a. "Revolver Ocelot." One of the most controversial allegations in the book deals with this figure's connection to a disavowed Russian militia led by a "Colonel Gurlukovich." Romanenko paints a bleak picture of a thousand-strong, highly disciplined army with nuclear weaponry operating covertly within the American border. Even more irresistible to conspiracy scholars and students of recent history is her thinly veiled suggestion that the whole affair was planned from the beginning by certain forces inside the U.S. government. The U.S. Army and the usual suspect of federal agencies have issued a statement denouncing the book as a complete fabri- cation. However, with a number of detailed eyewitness accounts that back up the author's assertions cropping up daily on the Web, the denials serve more to enhance the book's growing reputation. "Shadow Moses" is an engrossing read for casual and serious readers alike, and promises to involve readers in a meaty debate over the truth of the matter for many years to come. Excerpted from the literary review column "All Booked Up", The New York Mirror