cover image Smokescreen

Smokescreen

Khaled Talib. Khaled Talib, $12.50 trade paper (332p) ASIN B08DBYMY8H

In this high-octane thriller from Talib (Incognito), the Israeli prime minister has secretly negotiated with the PLO and Hamas, agreeing to return all the occupied territories, in a deal brokered by Singapore. Members of the Israeli government opposed to those concessions scheme to have the PM murdered and a Singapore magazine reporter, Jet West, implicated as the assassin. The conspirators work toward their goal of framing West by concocting a story that he got a message from Allah in a dream asking him to convert to Islam and shoot the PM. Meanwhile, the chief protocol officer of the Singapore ministry of foreign affairs does his bit to make West a credible assassin by implicating him in the killing of Niki Kishwani, the Singapore Tourism public relations manager. Before dying, Kishwani manages to tip off West to the frame, setting off a desperate scramble for survival and exoneration. Readers will be eager to find out how everything resolves. (Self-published)