Smokescreen
Khaled Talib
At an ancient café in Cairo, two veteran spies plot a covert mission to resolve — once and for all — the Israeli – Palestinian conflict. The pledge: Israel will make a major concession as part of the peace treaty. In Singapore, Jethro Westrope, a magazine journalist, stumbles onto the scene of a murder: the beautiful Niki Kishwani directs him, in her last breath, to a digital recorder, evidence that puts Jethro’s life in serious danger. And, much worse, he is framed for Niki’s murder. Jethro sets out to find Niki’s killer and is drawn into a web of deception and intrigue involving officials from the Singaporean, Israeli, and American governments, each with a complex, competing, and potentially deadly agenda. Against this pulse-pounding backdrop, Jethro races to find answers and save himself —yet nothing is as it seems. He finds himself at the centre of a political plot so diabolical and sweeping in its world implications that he is stunned to discover tomorrow’s news headlines today. He is being set up not only as a murderer but as an assassin, and something much larger than his own fate is in his hands.
This evocative debut novel is an intriguing international thriller of conspiracy and espionage.
Glossy magazine journalist Jethro (Jet) Westrope is framed for the murder of a beautiful Singapore Tourist Board PR officer. Jet aims to uncover her real killer but he’s become embroiled in a deadly political plot to assassinate the Israeli Prime Minster – and Jet is the scapegoat, the Lee Harvey Oswald if you will, the unlucky guy chosen to die. A cat and mouse game ensues.
A planned historic peace deal between Israel and Palestine, set to be confirmed during the PM’s visit to Singapore, would see Israel making major concessions that the conspirators can’t allow.
Jet is a likeable lead as the fall guy in a situation being manipulated by the puppet masters, sinister organisations that seem to have the ability to write tomorrow’s headlines today and point evidence at any direction they wish. Shown as an extremist convert to Islam, Jet is to be blamed for the assassination. His only friend seems to be a friend of the murdered PR woman.
The cast of characters is memorable - the bad guys are suitably evil and ruthless and the untypical Singapore setting is a vivid one, as are the other locations in this jet setting novel that feels authentic and certainly entertains. The established and lesser-known relationship between Israel and Singapore is also explained in a book contains all the strengths of classic espionage.
Plenty of twists and well depicted action keeps the cinematic story driving along to its climax.
About Khaled Talib:
Khaled Talib is a former journalist with local and international exposure. He has worked full time for magazines including Singapore Tatler and Egypt Today. His articles have been published and syndicated to newspapers worldwide, and his short stories have appeared in literary journals and magazines.
Talib is also the author of The Little Book of Muses, a collection of personal muses for writers and aspiring authors. He resides in Singapore.