I grew up in
the beautiful suburb of Westport Connecticut. After Boston University, I moved
to New York City. In Manhattan I spent time in many political campaigns as
fundraiser and writer. New York was a Democratic town. We never fought with
Republicans, we fought with each other! It was exciting and I thought I was
making a contribution. When I moved to California, my connections helped me
transistion into the political world in LA.
September 11th, 2001, changed me and I had to re-evaluate my politics. I used to work in lower Manhattan and saw on TV the streets and buildings covered with dust and so many people killed in an instant. In LA, I volunteered for the USO at LAX and watched Marines from Camp Pendleton fly out to their next training base. I also served an Army Family Readiness unit near me.I called families of deployed soldiers to check if they needed anything and helped with the Army Christmas parties for the kids. It didn't seem enough. I had to find another way to express my ideas and support the troops. I made political commercials and wrote articles.
In 2008 I was the co-writer and executive producer of the political comedy feature 'An American Carol'
I decided to write my first novel 'Hand of Fatima' because I was angry about the lies surrounding Benghazi, the terrorist attack that occurred in 2012. The four men that died that day had families and friends who loved them. Our leaders acted as if it was a political mess to get passed and forgotten. The novel is a thriller about terrorism and how it affects real people.
September 11th, 2001, changed me and I had to re-evaluate my politics. I used to work in lower Manhattan and saw on TV the streets and buildings covered with dust and so many people killed in an instant. In LA, I volunteered for the USO at LAX and watched Marines from Camp Pendleton fly out to their next training base. I also served an Army Family Readiness unit near me.I called families of deployed soldiers to check if they needed anything and helped with the Army Christmas parties for the kids. It didn't seem enough. I had to find another way to express my ideas and support the troops. I made political commercials and wrote articles.
In 2008 I was the co-writer and executive producer of the political comedy feature 'An American Carol'
I decided to write my first novel 'Hand of Fatima' because I was angry about the lies surrounding Benghazi, the terrorist attack that occurred in 2012. The four men that died that day had families and friends who loved them. Our leaders acted as if it was a political mess to get passed and forgotten. The novel is a thriller about terrorism and how it affects real people.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Nobody ever told Holly what had really happened on that classified
mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
The painful memory of his death came crashing in on her when Alex,
a former special-warfare operator, approached her on a clear autumn day. Alex
and his teammate TJ had been wounded on the same raid with Jake.
These tough wounded warriors were determined to find out the
facts, but they knew for sure that the SEALS had been betrayed.
By uncovering the treacherous truth about the Helmand mission,
this group of patriots and their friends discover an even more sinister plot
that will put the country in danger . . . and it leads straight to the White
House.
AN EXCERPT
Chapter 8 - THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE
Alex paced in front of D.C.'s Union
Station. He had worked with Susanna and trusted her but she still worked for
the President he did not trust.
Susanna saw Alex, took a deep breath
and walked towards him. “Alex,” she whispered.
He turned and walked into the
station and got lost in the crowds surrounding the fast food restaurants and
sat at on a bench.
Alex started, “Tariq betrayed
us.”
Susanna gasped, “How do you know
this?”
“We've tracked him since the attack
in Helmand Province,” Alex said breathlessly, waiting to see Susanna's
reaction.
Susanna looked stunned.
“Tariq was there on the day of the
attack.” Susanna’s mouth fell open.
Alex leaned close to her. “I'm not
telling you the details because then you don't know anything to testify to in
case…”
“Testify,” she shouted. “What do you
mean? How do you know he was at the site of the attack?”
Alex looked glum. “I saw him!”
Susanna gasped. “Are you sure it was Tariq?”
“Yes absolutely. You forget I was
observing his interrogation at Gitmo. You know what this means Susanna?” he
carefully said.
Susanna sighed and leaned back on
the bench, “The President's poster boy for Gitmo releases reverts to his old
ways…he's still a terrorist.”
“And worse, he set us up. He just
didn't escape into thin air—he led us into a trap by giving us false info in
order to kill us. He was laughing at us!” Alex was intent on making her see the
danger.
Susanna got up and started walking,
pulling her coat around her against the chill autumn wind. Alex followed but
hung behind giving her some space. Her pace slowed as she faced him.
Alex pleaded, “We need to tell
Holly, wife of a dead SEAL and a respected analyst.”
“Holly is not political and she was
devastated by Jake's death. To bring it up again is cruel, especially if she
finds out it was avoidable. I am speaking as her friend!” cried Susanna.
“Don't you think she would want to
know? And if her best friend knew something, don't you think she'd be mad if
you kept it from her?” asked Alex.
Susanna looked exasperated. But what
he said made her feel unsure of her position. Maybe Holly would want to know.
“I tried to talk to her at Temple,
but she was with family and besides, I lost my nerve,” he said, embarrassingly.
“I know how we can all meet away
from prying eyes. It's Sukkot Thursday night.” Alex looked stunned and smiled.
“I didn't know you were Jewish!” he
laughed.
“Holly always invites this Catholic
to her sister's Sukkah in her backyard in Connecticut. There will be lots of
people all unrelated to our work. Holly said I could bring guests. Ask TJ.
We'll take the train.” Alex grinned and nodded his head.
Alex walked out of the station,
happy he had met with Susanna. And he was glad he was going to see Holly again
but he didn't want to think of her in personal terms.
His thoughts went to Tariq. He was
sure he had seen him at the edge of the staging area, which didn't surprise
him. After all, he had provided the intel. Then he thought he made a mistake
and then everything was explosions, pain and darkness.
Alex was wounded. In the hospital
room and in therapy, he felt like he had forgotten something important. But he
was confused and the doctors told him some memory loss was perfectly normal
after an explosion.
But it came back to him one night
when he was watching The Godfather, and he called TJ.
“TJ, remember the scene in The
Godfather when Michael was hiding out in Sicily after killing Sollozo and
McClusky. His beautiful Sicilian wife—what was her name?”
“Appollonia…yeah I remember her,”
said TJ.
Alex continued dramatically, “She
was about to start the car. Michael called to his bodyguard Fabrizio. He looked
back at Michael and then ran. In that instant Michael knew he had been betrayed
and then his wife turned on the ignition and blew up. It had been meant for
him.”
“Yeah, yeah I get it, but…,”
interjected TJ.
“When I was watching that scene it
came back to me. I saw Tariq that day and when I called to him he looked back
with the same expression and then ran just like Fabrizio and then the
explosions started.”
“We can't use The Godfather as a
reason you remembered Tariq. They'll have you back in psych evaluation and
think you are confusing life with a movie.”
“You do it all the time,” laughed
Alex
“Yeah, I know, but not at a
debriefing.” TJ sighed.
SPECIAL LINKS
Amazon
Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Myrna-Sokoloff/e/B00GLDOL2S/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1413853834&sr=8-1
Amazon
Buy Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Fatima-Myrna-Sokoloff/dp/1492713872/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413853834&sr=8-1&keywords=myrna+sokoloff
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host.
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