Tag Archives: thriller

I didn’t set out to write INCOGNITO, my second thriller novel. I accidentally stumbled upon it. The experience was bizarre, I tell you. It started after my encounter with two different women in Switzerland.

The first story took place in Geneva. I was looking out my hotel room window one cold night when I noticed a tall, large woman in black standing stiffly under a street lamp.  Later, I decided to go downstairs to talk to the hotel receptionist  in an adjoining office as he had invited me for coffee. I took the stairs instead of the ancient traction elevator since my room was only one floor down.

Descending halfway, I saw the same woman in the lobby. She glared at me. There was no one else. I realized she was mentally challenged, but her behavior gave me the creeps. I ran back up and locked myself in the room. Something about her reminded me of a character in a horror movie.  And how the hell did she get in? Every guest had a password to open the digital door lock. She was not a guest. 

In the second story, I was hiking up a snowy mountain in Saint Moritz. There, I met another woman. I asked her for directions as I wasn’t sure of my surroundings.  She then introduced herself and told me she visited the alps regularly for inner peace. She added that she followed a certain religion although she was not born into it.  She also complained about how Switzerland was no longer the same. She even denigrated the country’s politicians and bankers. Then, with a finger pointing at Italy, she ranted about the Vatican.

All this while, I was praying the woman wouldn’t ask me about my faith. I was concerned she might also have issues with it. I got the impression she had issues period. She was carrying a hiking pole unlike me.  I was worried she might get a bit creative with the stick.  If I had to defend myself, it’ll be my word against hers since there were only the two of us on that mountain section.  How fast could I run with snow boots on, anyway? But the idea for a story had transpired. Some 3,000 feet up high on the Swiss alps, I suddenly realized I was looking at the vista of a new thriller novel!

Then I visited Italy, which gave me more ideas about what to include in my manuscript.  It was like picking fruits in the garden. I had visited several other countries that I felt would be relevant to the plot and theme. So I began crafting with all the ingredients in the pot. Trial and error, rewrites, back and forth… and then it was all done.

In weaving the tale, I wanted a cocktail thriller set on the international scene without the usual players. No CIA, no Mi6… none of those kind of people. I wanted something different – something fresh. So I added a few new elements that in my view sounded plausible.  I am happy with the outcome. Honestly? I didn’t think I would ever finish writing the manuscript. But I did.  Phew!

I’ll skip the boring details about how I went about writing the story. Every author does the same thing. We research (lots of research), fact check, interview people, make observations — that kind of thing. Nothing glamorous about that. But I knew the story had to be different

Well, I hope you’ll read INCOGNITO when it’s released. And yes, l couldn’t help it, the novel does contain a secret message.  Please don’t tell when it’s finally revealed to you … that’s the fun part about sharing a secret.

Over and out.

p.s. A special thanks to Jörg-Thomas Weidtke who worked at Hotel Stille, Saint Moritz for letting me take as much chocolate as I want from the bowl at the reception desk.

From a press release issued by the publisher…

PENSACOLA, Fla., September 6, 2016

World Castle Publishing is proud to unveil the cover for Khaled Talib’s thriller, INCOGNITO.

It is scheduled to be released next year. Early buzz from thriller fans across the globe and social media platforms anticipate this novel to be a huge success.

The book cover’s overlaying fiery red ruby communicates the intense theme. It brings together incongruent elements in a striking finish. It personifies a story that is mysterious, suspenseful, action-filled, and tumultuous all at the same time.

The author’s new protagonist, Ayden Tanner, is a former British SAS commando who is officially dead. He and his crew are dispatched by a covert division of the international hacker group, Anonymous, to find the pope, who is missing.

Anonymous has created a covert division called The League of Invisible Knights, which aims to bring about the triumph of good over evil.

INCOGNITO was inspired by the author’s visits to Switzerland, Italy, and Istanbul.

1)The novel was supposed to be set in a dystopian era.

2)The American ambassador, Michael Dexter, was initially a Caucasian. The African-American was another CIA agent named “Charlie Brown.” The characters were merged into one to simplify the plot.

All these years while I was writing and rewriting my manuscript, that small coffee cup kept me company. I never noticed it until now. I swear, I had nothing to do with the book’s cover design. It was all the publisher’s idea, and I never saw it until the last minute. Spooky.

During my years in Cairo, Egypt, I discovered, from speaking to many people in the business of business — including policemen, military officers, and Bedouins in the Sinai area — about the intricate tunnels built by Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
Due to the siege and blockade, the tunnels serve as a means of livelihood. The smuggling of goods from food, cigarettes to military equipment is unbelievable. If you can’t picture it, imagine the underground world built by Mr. Toad’s critter friends in The Wind in the Willows.
In writing my novel, I created a tunnel route in which a messenger travels from Egypt to Palestine before connecting to Jerusalem. This is one of my favorite scenes where I tried to invoke the sinister and tense atmosphere to give the reader an exact feel of what it would be like to be a Palestinian trying to infiltrate Israeli borders. The question is, did I imagine the route, did someone draw it for me or was I given a tour?