The Washington Stratagem (44 page)
Read The Washington Stratagem Online
Authors: Adam LeBor
Her phone rang, showing a 510 area code. She took the call.
“You sound excited,” said Barbara.
“I’m going on a date, Mom.”
“About time. You’ll tell me all about him on the weekend. I land at LaGuardia on Friday at six p.m. It’s been too long.”
“It has.” Yael looked out the window. “I’ll pick you up at the airport.” The Mitsubishi SUV four cars behind looked familiar. Or was she just being paranoid? “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Not now. When I see you. But it involves your father.”
The mention of her father broke Yael’s mood. She turned around and glanced at the Mitsubishi again. Tinted windows. Her sixth sense was howling. There was definitely something wrong here.
“OK, Mom,” she said. “Can’t wait to see you. Gotta go.”
The taxi started to slow down as they approached the corner of Eighty-First Street. Yael could see Michael the doorman standing under the dark-green awning, holding her wine. She ended her call, leaned forward, and spoke to the driver. The wine, and dinner, would have to wait. Again. The driver smiled and nodded. Yael sat back and braced herself.
Two hundred and thirty miles away, Clarence Clairborne sat back in his office chair, a glass of bourbon in his hand, a cigar smoldering gently in the nearby ashtray. His computer screen showed Yael’s taxi doing a sudden and illegal U-turn on Riverside Drive, sailing past the Mitsubishi SUV that was now on the other side of the road. Clairborne frowned, reached over to his telephone, and punched in a number.
~
We hope you enjoyed this book.
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An invitation from the publisher
My interest in the United Nations began in the early 1990s, when I covered the Yugoslav wars. That experience led to my nonfiction book
Complicity with Evil: The United Nations in the Age of Modern Genocide
, which examines the UN’s failures in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur. I welcome feedback from readers and reply to every e-mail. Contact me at
[email protected]
or follow me on Facebook or Twitter:
@adamlebor
.
My thanks go to Anthony Cheetham, Madeleine O’Shea and the rest of the excellent team at Head of Zeus for bringing the Yael Azoulay series to British readers.
In New York I am especially grateful to Hannah Wood at HarperCollins US. Her scrupulous attention to plot, character and narrative drive helped turn a first draft into a book. Thanks also to Claire Wachtel, who launched Yael, and to Matthew Patin and Julie Hersh for their eagle-eyed copy editing. A big shout-out goes to the team at William Morris Endeavor: in London, Elizabeth Sheinkman, Jo Rogers, Annemarie Blumenhagen, and Amy Fitzgerald; in Los Angeles, Anna DeRoy and Erin Conroy. In New York, Suzanne Gluck and Samantha Frank gave me valuable editorial feedback, and thanks also to Eve Atterman. On the television front, working with Lynda Obst, Rachel Abarbanell, and Stephen Schiff has been both a pleasure and an education.
I am grateful to my friends Clive Rumbold and Paulina Bren, who read early drafts of this book and provided much-appreciated feedback and advice. Many thanks to Dan Bilefsky, who edited Sami Boustani’s articles, excised Britishisms, and ensured that Sami’s copy kept to the rules of the
New York Times
stylebook. Once again, “Z” proved a most valuable guide to the dark side of American politics. Ruth Gruber gave me some useful pointers about Israelis and Palestinians. In Britain, Peter Jenkins kindly invited me to join a course on surveillance run by his company, ISS Training Ltd. (
www.intelsecurity.co.uk
), where I learned much about this most subtle of arts. Peter also gave me a copy of his excellent book,
Surveillance Tradecraft
. In Istanbul, Andrew Finkel, author of
Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know
, read the manuscript, generously shared his insight, and corrected minor errors. Andrew also introduced me to Monica Fritz, who took me on an insider’s tour of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, including a memorable stroll on the roof. Tesekkür ederim!
Val McDermid and Andrew Taylor were inspiring tutors at an Arvon Foundation course on crime writing. Peter Savodnik’s article on Astara in
The Atlantic
was a small masterpiece. Carne Ross, of Independent Diplomat, was always insightful. Matthew Thomas, a sharp-eyed reader, gave me some welcome feedback. My fellow thriller writer Matthew Dunn has been generous with his praise. Joshua Freeman was welcome company on a day trip to Staten Island.
The Donme: Jewish Converts, Muslim Revolutionaries and Secular Turks
, by Marc David Baer, was both fascinating and informative.
Thanks, as ever, to my hosts in New York: Peter Green, Bob Green, and Babette Audant. In Budapest, Csaba Szikra introduced me to Krav Maga. Marton Pinter and Bence Bagi honed my rudimentary skills, while Zsolt Kelemen was always an encouraging sparring partner. Liora Seboek corrected my Hebrew grammar. Justin Leighton, Roger Boyes, Annika Savill, Sam Loewenberg, and Lutz Kleveman helped keep me on track. Donna Vivian Landon-Jimenez shared her expertise about Spain. Thanks most of all, of course, to my family.
The Washington Stratagem
A
LONE
AGENT
.
AN
UNIMAGINABLE
CONSPIRACY
.
UN covert negotiator Yael Azoulay went rogue in Geneva and nearly lost her life. Her physical wounds are healed, but she will never be able to forget what happened.
Now back in New York, Yael uncovers a chilling conspiracy whose end game is a devastating new war in the Middle East. But as Yael draws closer to the truth, she is forced to confront the ghosts of her past.
As the few certainties of her life begin to crumble around her, a terrifying truth is laid bare: Yael has enormously powerful enemies who neither forgive, nor forget.
‘Gripping And Atmospheric’
Charles Cumming
‘Who knew the United Nations could be so exciting? Murder, intrigue and a beguiling protagonist make Adam LeBor’s international thriller a gripping and enticing read.’
Guardian
‘LeBor writes with the scrupulous focus of the journalist... the world he creates is driven by the sharp edge of reality.’
Alan Furst
A
DAM
L
EBOR
lives in Budapest and writes for
The Economist
, the
New York Times
,
Monocle
,
Newsweek
, the
Daily Beast
, and numerous other publications. He is the author of a number of non fiction books, including
Hitler’s Secret Bankers
, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize.
Follow him on Twitter:
@adamlebor
or visit his website:
www.adamlebor.com
F
ICTION
The Geneva Option
The Budapest Protocol
N
ON
F
ICTION
Tower of Basel
The Believers
Complicity with Evil
City of Oranges
Milosevic: A Biography
Surviving Hitler
(with Roger Boyes)
Hitler’s Secret Bankers
A Heart Turned East
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HeadofZeusBooks
The story starts here.
First published in the US in 2014 by Bourbon Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, New York.
First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus Ltd.
Copyright © Adam LeBor, 2014
The moral right of Adam LeBor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.