📖💥Read Big Excerpt & more! 📚GREEN DESERT (ACCIDENTAL SPY Iraq prequel, special 2nd edition)!
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GREEN DESERTACCIDENTAL SPY IRAQ PREQUEL
special 2nd edition (with images)
FULL DESCRIPTION
GREEN DESERT (Accidental Spy Iraq prequel novelette/short)
2nd edition
Being in the right place at just the wrong time is her specialty. She mastered this fine art to perfection. Her name is Jade Snow, a young international journalist who four days ago arrived in Baghdad for a documentary of a lifetime.
Full of eye-opening symbolism, GREEN DESERT, the Accidental Spy series prequel novelette, is the first Jade Snow adventure. Despite its small size, it packs action and surprising twists throughout.
A young American journalist Jade Snow lands in Baghdad at the height of the Iraqi war, on her first serious international assignment. Against advice, she leaves the safety of the Green Zone and gets caught up in the suicide bomber attack against an American convoy.
Before all the clues are gone, the race to uncover the real truth someone’s covering up, begins. Jade must trace the life and psychological state of the young Iraqi suicide bomber, which leads her to a shocking discovery of not only the coverup of the tragedy of the Iraqi war, but also of an impossible karmic link between the bomber and an American sergeant killed in his attack, two mortal enemies who in another life could’ve been friends.
And the biggest and most shocking discovery that puts the entire karmic story in perspective, awaits Jade in the very end!
**To underscore the story’s message and Jade Snow’s persona as a documentary journalist, this, special 2nd edition, has been updated with striking images of the ancient Mesopotamia and current day Iraq.
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ACCIDENTAL SPY SERIES TAKE-OFF!
In the next, full-size novel STEPFORD, USA (Accidental Spy Small Town Adventure #1), now pregnant Jade Snow lands in an idyllic and restful town hiding a hideous conspiracy, an ugly crime for which an innocent man was sent to jail. Amid death, danger and buried secrets, Jade must uncover the uncomfortable truths, bring closure to the victim and restore justice!
In the following bestselling novel GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure #2), Jade Snow, now a wife and mom to an adorable toddler daughter, on a quest to rekindle her practically dead international journalist career, goes to Russia, to discover not only the alluring mystery of the world’s largest treasure, the lost Gold of the Russian Empire, but also a shocking international conspiracy that could lead to WWIII. On top of it, she finds something she was never looking for, a passionate star-crossed relationship that will become her destiny!
In the following adventure, the novel DRAGON GATE (Accidental Spy Asia Adventure #3 – unfinished, currently in progress), Jade is called to solve a mystery which will reveal a deeply layered world-shattering international conspiracy, well-hidden in the most unlikely of places. Amid spies, secrets and lies, some inspiring truths are brought to light, and another unexpected, yet divinely guided encounter with destiny develops, culminating in a major sacrifice Jade must make for love!
Also in the works: RUSSIAN ROULETTE (Accidental Spy New Treasure Adventure #4 – *working title*), where much is lost but even more found!
Will there be more?… Oh, yeah, it definitely will! Stay tuned!
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FIVE STARS
“Riveting story with powerful message!” Meredith Carvin
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“This story will rock your world.” Bill Tillman
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“A powerful, gripping and entrancing story. The author’s ability to take a topical subject and combine it with talented descriptive writing and creativity always thrusts the reader into the very heart of her books.” J.J. Collins, Author (London, UK)
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And now, I’m inviting you to read an excerpt from the newly re-edited 2nd edition of Green Desert, complete with some of the book’s images, the way it was never before shared with the public!
Read the riveting beginning of theGREEN DESERT
“One day, the Iraqi desert will be a garden…again.”
Mohammed al-Tikriti, suicide bomber, former University of Baghdad student
2007, Iraq
He looked up and wiped the sweat streaming down his face with a trembling hand. Eight a.m. Baghdad sun knew no mercy even at this hour. He must concentrate, just a few more minutes! He stood next to his shabby, dusty Corolla, with faded taxi markings on it. The alley was deserted and deathly quiet, as expected. But just down the hill, barely thirty meters away and fully visible from his vantage point, was the intersection of the busiest road in the city.
Almost time. They should be here any moment.
He took an envelope out of his pocket and almost decided to leave it by the gate of the nearest house, securing it with a rock, when he saw an American press crew – a cameraman and a tall, slim woman, disguised as a man (who was she kidding?) – setting up their camera next to the intersection.
He simply couldn’t believe his luck! Allah is merciful, he hasn’t deserted him in this hour of judgment! He cast a quick glance around, and another stroke of luck! A young boy, no more than eight or nine, rounded the corner, carrying a heavy jug of water, and made his way through the alley.
“Hey, boy! Come here, little boy,” he called, waving temptingly his last two dollar bills. “Want to make some real American money?”
The boy set his water jug on the ground and cautiously edged closer.
The man handed him the envelope. “I want you to give this after the explosion to that pretty lady dressed as a man. Do you see her?”
The boy’s shrewd eyes shot in the direction of the American press crew, and he nodded, giggling. Then, another thought made him frown.
“What explosion?” he asked suspiciously.
“You’ll see,” said the mysterious man. “The most important thing, stay hidden right here until after it happens. Understood?”
The boy nodded.
The man gave him an encouraging smile and got into his Corolla. Time!
He started the motor and quietly rolled closer to the intersection. Immediately, he heard the rumbling noise of a huge American truck, then he saw it. Praise Allah! Yet another stroke of luck – the monstrosity was full of soldiers. A big man with sergeant’s insignia sat in the cabin, next to the driver. Good! He’ll aim right at him. An officer is even better than mere soldiers.
“Allaaaahu Akbar!” He slammed his foot on the accelerator and with a desperate cry launched his car forward, like a missile.
The big sergeant in the front seat turned his head towards him. The last thing the man’s mind registered was surprise in sergeant’s blue eyes.
******
Being in the right place at just the wrong time is my specialty. I mastered this fine art to perfection. My name is Jade Snow, I am an international journalist, and four days ago I arrived to Baghdad together with my crew to do a documentary about the Iraqi war.
The first two days here normally feel like your lungs are about to explode from the ever-present thick yellow dust. Then, you get used to it. The key is to cover your face and drink lots and lots of bottled water. Bottled, because you obviously can’t trust what’s coming out of a tap.
In four days, I’ve seen enough Green Zone to last me a lifetime, but little else. The Green Zone is by far the nicest place in Baghdad. Some of the palm trees have been toppled by explosions and you can still see traces of shelling on the walls of the opulent former Saddam’s Palace, presently the US military headquarters.
But our luxury hotel’s swimming pool area is always full. You can get a chilled beer or a margarita served by the pool side, blond American women strut here in bikinis, and American businessmen shake hands on the latest reconstruction deals.
My hot-blooded Latin cameraman, Alejandro, has not been wasting his time. While I’ve been trying to figure out how to get us out of the Green Zone and into action, he’s been spending quality time in the company of a confident-looking brunette, a reporter for one of the networks, and a smiley army PR specialist. Later, I spotted him whispering little nothings to a cute, blond private, who kept blushing and throwing adoring glances at “the glamorous media man.” I didn’t mind. Let him enjoy himself today. Work starts tomorrow.
It’s very different outside this heavily guarded area – desolate, dangerous, ugly, and hard to breathe because of the desert dust. It’s highly advisable, especially for women, to stay inside the Green Zone. Many journalists here are satisfied with the daily military briefings, in which we are told only what the military wants us to know.
But I can’t settle for that. I came here to shoot what I hope would be an award winning documentary. I am suffocating behind these walls. I have to know what’s going on out there, in real Baghdad! All I need is transportation.
“Fine,” surrendered the captain in charge of transport. I’ve been besieging him since day one and, finally exhausted, he gave up.
“Keys. Your jeep is over there,” he pointed at a bunch of cars in the nearby lot. “The green one.”
“Thank you, Captain,” I said, feeling the happiest I’ve been since arriving to this inhospitable place.
“Don’t mention it,” he responded grouchily. “But I must advise you that you are venturing out there at your own risk. I suggest you at least wait for the convoy. It’s leaving in an hour. Two Humvees and a truck. Better travel with them – safety in numbers.”
“Can’t do that, Captain,” I said brightly. “Another day perhaps. Today, the plan is to shoot some footage of real life: streets, people, marketplace… It won’t work with soldiers around. But I appreciate your advice all the same.”
“All right,” he said, giving up. “But at least, dress in man’s clothes. It’s safer. This world is not very favorable to women, especially pretty Western women,” he added, attempting a smile and failing miserably.
It seemed like a sound advice, so I quickly borrowed a pair of cargo pants, safari shirt and a khaki cap from Alejandro. I found a silk scarf and tied it around the pants, because Alejandro’s belt didn’t have enough holes in it. The scarf did a satisfactory job of holding up the cargoes and added some bulk to my form. After rolling up the pants so they wouldn’t drag on the ground, I checked my new look in the mirror and satisfied, got into the jeep.
We found a good vantage point, a busy intersection, next to a marketplace. Deciding to do some general footage first, we started setting up the camera on the corner. I had a good feeling about this particular spot, hoping we might be able to get some good angles here. The camera started rolling.
“Pan right, Alejandro. Now, a tad to the left. Try to catch that family with those cute little kids,” I directed my cameraman periodically.
“Very good,” I went on, and was going to add that now I needed him to focus on the marketplace, when we heard the rumbling noise.
“It must be the convoy the captain was talking about,” I murmured. Sure enough, moving towards us was the leading Humvee, followed by a huge armored truck, with at least fifteen or sixteen soldiers on board, two of them manning machine guns trained on both sides of the street, and followed by another Humvee. The truck was now almost parallel with us, a mere twenty feet away.
“Get this!” I mouthed to Alejandro through the deafening noise. But he was already focusing his camera on the convoy. I lucked out with Alejandro as my cameraman. He was experienced and I really didn’t need to remind him of such things.
As the truck passed us, the broad-shouldered sergeant in its cabin nodded to me and I saw a smile in his blue eyes. I waived back at him. At that very moment, I heard a noise coming from the quiet alley behind. Both Alejandro and I turned to see what was going on.
Like a bullet, an old Corolla shot out of the hidden alley, and went straight for the truck. Some kind of a package was tied to the car’s front, where during weddings they usually tied wedding dolls. Alejandro, a consummate cameraman, immediately trained his camera on the charging Corolla. I only had the time to think, but it’s so tiny compared to that giant truck… when I got that urgent gut feeling, which I usually referred to as “my well-honed intuition.”
“Run!” I yelled, and quickly dragged Alejandro into the alley. We barely had time to duck behind a protruding rock, when the soldier with machine gun on top of the truck started firing. But it was too late; Corolla rammed into the truck at full speed, smack where the blue-eyed sergeant sat. A huge explosion rocked the intersection.
The noise was deafening, fire raged, panicked and bleeding people ran in all directions. Alejandro and I were about to dash to the site of the explosion, hoping we could help. But at that moment, a new explosion rocked the street and we had to duck again.
It was hopeless. No one over there could’ve survived these two explosions, plus the fiery inferno. We stood, watching the flames, wiping sweat, dust and soot off our faces, hoping against hope that someone had survived, and not knowing what to do next.
And that’s when someone tugged on my sleeve. I looked down, surprised. A small Iraqi boy stood next to me.
“Did you just tug on my sleeve?” I asked.
In response, he silently handed me an envelope. I took the envelope and my jaw dropped as I read: Why I became a terrorist. Inside I found several pages, written in a small, tight handwriting in what appeared to be decent English. I looked up to ask the boy where he got this letter, but he was already gone. I couldn’t believe what I was holding in my hand. It was the story of the suicide bomber, whose deadly act I just witnessed firsthand! …..
(**free and exclusive on LadaRay.com!)
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LINKS
NEW COMPREHENSIVEBOOKS SECTIONACCIDENTAL SPY series pageNew complete GREEN DESERT (Accidental Spy Iraq prequel) page, with big excerptNew complete GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia #2) page with mega-excerptLRP Post: 
Read Mega-Excerpt & more! GOLD TRAIN (ACCIDENTAL SPY RUSSIA ADVENTURE, 2nd edition)!
