I saw the paperback version of Gun Kiss on the first day of the new year when the courier guy arrived with a box from the publisher. Here it is. What do you think? By the way, can you hear the birds in the background? That was coincidental, not planned.
The book is available at your usual stores along with the Kindle version, which is still on sale until 7 January. Personally, I’m not too bothered whether I read books on electronic devices or on paper. I’m flexible that way, having been introduced to Kindle by someone. Of course, there was some slight resistance in the initial, but having experienced it first hand, I find that it works for me too. So Kindle or paperback, it’s all the same to me. Naturally, if you are a traditionalist, you want to feel the paper in your hand. But I wonder what the ancient Egyptians would have thought of paperback books against their mud tablets. See my point?
Still, it’s nice to have a paperback version of a book. But having the best of two world’s is much better.
My new thriller, GUN KISS, will be released by Imajin Books soon.
In this whip smart thriller, the Philadephia Deringer that shot Abraham Lincoln gets stolen in Washington, D.C. and results in a hostage situation.
With a series of interwoven subplots, the story heats up to become a globe-trotting series of escapades and encounters by disparate individuals who each harbor their own special interests.
Gun Kiss includes a fierce battle against drug lords and a memorable romance with a Hollywood starlet.
When I was 15 I used to cycle a lot. I even teamed up with a few others to explore the island. I would usually follow the leader as I was unfamiliar with the roads. On one occasion, I accepted a friend’s invitation to visit his home after school in the evening. I was accompanied by another friend, and it turned out to be one of the strangest journeys ever.
This was back in the 1980s when John Travolta’s Night Fever posters were still everywhere. There we were, three guys on a bicycle cruising the back roads of Singapore in the stale night air, wracked by my friend’s hauntingly continuous laughter.
I had no clue where I was going. I remember arriving somewhere dark and quiet, tree lined and featuring row houses. It was pretty far from school.
My friend rapped on the door and someone opened it from inside. A woman. It gets interesting now …
Inside, I found myself in a long, wood-paneled interior, with lighted candles on wall scones. I thought I was in a Benedictine monastery. A wooden staircase gave access to the upper floor. And you won’t believe where dinner was served – on a Monk’s long wooden dining table. The food was laden as if a hundred people lived there. My friend kept laughing as we ate.
I did not hide my curiosity. The strong smell of wood furniture commingled with the salted fish on the plate. That evening was different. Mystical.
I found out much later where my friend lived. Well, I don’t want to mention the name of the road because people in Singapore know exactly what that area is famous for. So I have taken a vow of silence. Let’s just say I don’t think this place will ever be as famous as that book and musical by author Larry L. King.
Did I ever tell you about the time several Singapore and Malaysian police officers were looking for me?
They went searching porta porta for me in Arab Street, a neighborhood famous for cafes, restaurants and sheesha bars.
I had waiters and customers rushing toward my face telling me several squad cars had arrived with men carrying Heckler & Koch sub machine guns, and it was an APB for a certain “Khaled Talib.”
Well, they found me – and it was a riot.
What did they want? An officer approached me and said he heard about my reputation in making good sheesha. So he wanted me to concoct a good one for the visiting Malaysian police commissioner.
I got permission from the cafe owner to serve the commissioner a specialty – apple and grape. He enjoyed himself.
