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Plot
The scene of the story is set in the Island of Singapore,
where the Israeli government are seeking to put an end to the Palestinian conflict;
however several Israeli officials want to kill their own leader and plan to
assassinate him by framing an innocent reporter called Jethro Westrope,
commonly known as Jet West, who works for the country’s leading lifestyle
magazine.
Jet initially thinks that one of the men that is chasing him
is the husband of the wife he has been sleeping with and has no idea until Niki
Kishwani, a public relations manager of the Singapore Tourism Board tries to
warn him that there are some men who are following him and want to fame him for
the murder of an important person. Jet
finds himself in a situation where he is being chased by Chan’s henchmen while
at the same time trying to clear his good name as Yung kills Niki, in an
attempt to set Jet up for the murder.
Jet is forced to go into hiding and meets Michael Dexter, who offers him refuge in his
mansion. Michael encourages Jet to
contact Nikis best friend, Nicole Wong and convince her he didn’t kill Niki, and
that’s when even more dangers await as Jet goes from one threat to yet another
and the smear campaign to make him a scapegoat for further murders only
multiplies as the dead body count increases.
Will Jet be able to clear his name in time before he is
framed for the Israelis Prime Minister premeditated murder, or will Chan and
his men achieve their ultimate mission that will in effect change the course of
all their paths?
Main Characters
Chan Boon Seng –
Chief protocol officer of the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Characteristics – A big brusque man who
doesn’t care if people like him or not, black eyes, black hair that’s shaved
along the sides, streaked with white sleeked back. A graduate from the London School of
Economics, exceptional military career, rising to the rank of Colonel, trained
by the Israeli army.
Captain Eli Aviram
– A tall lean man in his forties with a thin scar across his left cheek, Chan’s
long time Israeli friend.
X – An old
mysterious man, a former Israeli spy who is now a military consultant.
Jethro Westrope – Well-toned
good-looking Eurasian, reporter, age 35, assistant editor at one of
Singaporeans leading lifestyle magazines, half Irish, half Chinese.
Niki Kishwani –
Public relations manager of the Singapore Tourism Board, age 28, a law graduate
from a local university, a covert operative for Chan, a double agent.
Mary Yeo - Niki Kishwani assassin. Yung murders her in cold blood in a church she was seeking repentance.
Nicole Wong - Niki
Kishwani best friend, a deputy public prosecutor.
Yung – A
remorseless assassin, who was sentenced to a mental institution for observation
and then to be hanged. Chan paid for his freedom after Yung had spent two years
in prison, in return Chan expected absolute loyalty. A special operations force
solider gone wrong, trained in counter-terrorist actions.
Michael Dexter – United
States Ambassador to Singapore, a CIA official, his specific mission is to save
the Israeli leader from assassination.
De Angelo – Loyal
colleague of Dexter’s.
Dialogue
The dialogue is natural and flows well throughout the whole
book with no signs of forced and unnecessary speech patterns with little or no
reference to the use of profanity.
Writing
Smokescreen is undoubtedly one of the best written espionage
thrillers I have had the honour of reading. I have read numerous spy novels but
this book is in a league of its own as one of the greatest fast-paced, gripping
and thought provoking plots that involves high-level politics, government
cover-ups, covert missions and a high pursuit chase of an innocent man trying
desperately to prove his innocence.
Khaled Talib is a master of depicting real life scenarios such
as the current connections between Israel and Singapore into a work of
unforgettable fiction that will leave you breathless and wanting more. I highly recommend this book to readers of
Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy.
My Rating:
5 stars
Superbly Written Espionage Thriller
