DIVERTING THE BUDDHA examines the impact that the politically well connected have on our world. It is a large canvas novel that picks up were THE QUIET AMERICAN left off. As with the Graham Greene novel, this work looks in depth at the devastation political elites create when undermining grassroots democracy. This novel uses actual events to make clear just how thwarting a people's democratic aspirations leads those thwarted to undertake the desperate acts we label as terrorism. This is a story of conscience and consequences. It examines the very real events that destroyed the last chance for democracy to impact the Vietnam War. The antagonists are all familiar today: a Texas White House and high-powered executives in charge of moribund government agencies. They, along with two Vietnamese heroes, create a thrilling narrative, one that boils with intrigue, mayhem and betrayal.