Smokescreen

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.

Khaled Talib is a former journalist with local and international exposure. He has worked full time for magazines, and his articles have been published and syndicated to newspapers worldwide, while his short stories have appeared in literary journals and magazines.

Khaled is a member of the Crime Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers Association. He is represented by The Evan Marshall Literary Agency for foreign translation and other subsidiary rights.