Secrets of State, a novel written by former US diplomat Matthew Palmer,
is a sophisticated work of fiction. In his book Palmer weaves together a
believable plot involving an US and Indian ‘deep state’ conspiracy to militarily
destroy Pakistan. The story involves some classy character development,
beginning with the main protagonist Sam Trainor.
The plot has
ultra-nationalist patriots in the US and Indian collaborate to launch a (false
flag?) nuclear attack on an Indian city in order to provoke an Indian military
attack aimed at destroying Pakistan (once and for all). For the Americans, the
motive is to ‘protect’ the world by preventing Pakistani nukes from following
into the wrong hands, i.e. Islamic extremist terrorists.
Through
chance, coincidence or synchronicity a retired US South Asia specialist, Sam
Trainor, gets a whiff of the plot and starts investigating through his network
of Washington contacts. Pretty soon Trainor finds himself in hot waters and realizes
he is onto something big.
Meanwhile,
his clandestine love interest – an Indian diplomat at her country’s US mission
– and his daughter – a do-gooder, socially conscious, young half-Indian woman
doing development work in the slums of Mumbai – both find themselves sucked
into the terrorist plot.
Despite what
appears to be a far-fetched series of events, Palmer does a good job piecing
the story together. He even adds some historical ‘make believe’ stories from
time to time to give the novel greater believability. It works.
Events in Secrets of State move quickly. The
reader is kept in suspense and will hardly notice the length (437 pages) of the
novel.
To be sure, the
author cashed in on post 9/11 conventional wisdom which conveniently placed
every international terrorist incident at Pakistan’s doorstep.[i]
Nonetheless, Secrets of State is more
nuanced than many post 9/11 ‘terrorist’ thrillers. Palmer’s fiction is a good
addition to the genre. Anyone who enjoys a good geo-political thriller will
find Secrets of State a good read.
[i]
In the aftermath of 9/11, if an American in Washington DC caught the
flu, it must have been a conspiracy involving biological weapons hatched in
Pakistan’s governed tribal areas! Likewise, if a firecracker exploded
unannounced on the streets of London it was an Islamic extremist attack planned
and plotted by Pakistanis!
__________________
Imran is a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in
arts and history. Imran has lived and worked in several countries during his
past career as an international banker. He enjoys traveling, especially by
train, as a way to feed his curiosity about the world and nurture his interest
in photography. He
is available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram (@imranahmedsg) and can be
contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com
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