SPOTLIGHT: Gun Kiss by Khaled Talib @khaledtalib
Gun Kissby Khaled Talib
Imajin Books
👄 AVAILABLE NOW 👄
Hey all! Come check out Khaled Talib's new thriller, GUN KISS! An action thriller that will keep you on your heels! Continue below for a synopsis, About the Author, Q&A (he has a cat named Fufu and has seen a great white shark!!) and an excerpt you can read before before you buy 😉.
Synopsis:
A stolen piece of
history, an abducted actress and international intrigue…
When the Deringer
pistol that shot Abraham Lincoln is stolen and ends up in the hands of a
Russian military general, covert agent Blake Deco is tasked by the FBI to head
to the Balkans to recover the historical weapon. Meanwhile, the United States
media is abuzz with news of the mysterious disappearance of Hollywood movie
star, Goldie St. Helen.
After Blake’s return
from overseas, he receives a tip from a Mexican friend that a drug lord,
obsessed with the beautiful actress, is holding her captive in Tijuana. With
the help of a reluctant army friend, Blake mounts a daring rescue. What he
doesn’t expect is to have feelings for Goldie—or that a killer is hunting them.
Purchase here:
Amazon universal link:
http://getbook.at/GunKiss (Christmas
Sale till 7, January: $1.99)
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The cabin door flung
open, banging against the wall. Three assailants rushed in and began firing.
More bodies fell as the projectiles chipped splinters from the wooden walls.
Blake fired back. He
made every bullet count as he depleted the magazine. One of the assailants
dropped forward, while the other two staggered backward and collapsed outside.
Blake fed a new
magazine into the Ruger then crawled to the cabin's door and slammed it shut
before rolling to the corner. From across the cabin, he checked survivors: only
him and Goldie. He breathed slowly, trying to work past the tightening knot in
his chest…
GUN KISS is a high-octane thriller that begins in the
prologue as a Lincoln re-enactment event in Washington, D.C. and results in a
hostage being taken and a bomber intent on thievery. The story heats up as a
missing Deringer from The Ford Theatre Museum triggers a series of escapades
and encounters around the world by disparate individuals, each with their own
hidden agenda. There is also a fierce
battle against drug lords and a red-hot romance with a Hollywood starlet.
Singapore-born Khaled Talib’s third novel is a departure
from his earlier two novels – Smokescreen and Incognito – which has been
described as political thrillers, GUN KISS is more genre bender with intrigues
and counter intrigues played out against a backdrop of the war on drugs.
The book has already won high praises from leading
international authors like Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of The
Rising. Land who has written 25 novels, said: “Gun Kiss is a whip smart
thriller that brings to mind Don Winslow's masterful work that includes, most
recently, THE FORCE. Khaled Talib
rockets to the top of the pop culture pack with a tale in which every page is
chockfull of angst-riddled action and searing suspense.”
Gayle Lynds, co-founder of the International
Thriller Writers and New York Times bestselling author of The Assassins, also
praised Khaled for his work. “Gun Kiss by Khaled Talib is a terrific adventure
involving the FBI, drug lords, movie stars, and Russian generals. Grab your copy, drop into your favorite
reading chair, and prepare yourself for breathless suspense.”
GUN
KISS introduces protagonist Blake Deco, a former Delta Force soldier who now
runs a taco restaurant in Sunset Boulevard.
Khaled
took just six months to complete GUN KISS as he himself got caught up in Blake
Deco’s adventure. “Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have been able to
write an 80,000-word novel in such a short time. My first two novels took me a
few years to complete. With GUN KISS, I was as supercharged as the book’s main
character. I worked on the story every single day. The characters, the locations, the dialogue
and action had me on a high, so much so that I often had to remind myself to
surface for air and food. I hope GUN KISS readers will get to feel the same
high as I did and enjoy reading it as much as I did in writing the book.”
Khaled Talib is the
author of two other thriller novels: Smokescreen and Incognito. He is a member
of the International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association. He is
a former journalist turned public relations practitioner. To learn more about
the author, please visit www.khaledtalibthriller.com
The rights of the author’s first two
novels are represented by The Evan Marshall Agency.
Follow him here:
Author Q&A
Would you like to
start by telling us a little about yourself and how you started as a writer?
I was born in Singapore. I began my career as a staff writer
for a weekly oil and gas newspaper before switching to a lifestyle magazine.
I’ve worked for several magazines and ad agencies, and I also spent some years
spent in Cairo, Egypt working for a current affairs magazine. When I returned
to Singapore, I entered the world of public relations before staring my own
agency. Journalism and press liaison work contributed slightly to my talent in
fiction writing. It taught me how to
research and fact check.
Why do you
write?
Answer: I’m simply responding to how my mind works. Instinct
encourages me to tap my imagination. Why does an artist paint? Same thing. More
importantly, I do it for the reader. Their happiness is my happiness. I love it
when I get emails or tags on Facebook from readers saying how much they enjoyed
reading my books.
Would you
consider writing other genres like literature?
Answer: Honestly, I
have no idea what the future holds, but for now I enjoy writing novels that
make people bite their finger nails and send a shiver up their spine.
Your latest thriller is about a Hollywood
movie star who gets kidnapped by a drug lord. Where did you get the idea for
such a story?
Answer: I knew what was going on in Hollywood before this
Harvey Weinstein and the whole sexual harassment incident took place. You know,
bits and pieces of news coming out from time to time. There was also the fan
stalking. You read reports of how movie stars get harassed by deranged fans, so
I thought this would be an interesting theme to work on. Gun Kiss has a bit of everything, including
pedophilia, especially after some actors and actresses brought it up. This is a
thriller, written simply, but it features important and current issues that
needs to be addressed strongly. I also raised concerns about racism as part of
a subplot. I’m afraid this thing won’t go away, but at the same time, we
shouldn’t turn the other cheek. On the light side, I included a cat in the
story inspired by my own tuxedo cat, Fufu.
What are you
interests apart from writing?
I dabble in photography and I like writing travel features.
I’ve contributed to magazines, newspapers and online sites. I also enjoy
watching foreign films from drama to thrillers. I also enjoy watching Hallmark
Christmas movies. It’s very relaxing.
Tell us three
surprising things about yourself.
I have a sweet tooth. I’ve seen a great white
shark. I have guessed the names of three strangers and got all their names
right. Explain that.
EXCERPT
The tall buildings around Washington, D.C.’s 10th Street
overshadowed the historic Ford’s Theatre. Though the building had undergone
refurbishment both inside and out, it still seemed slightly out of place in
modern America. However, that didn’t stop the throngs of tourists visiting the
building that June morning as wispy clouds threaded through the cerulean sky.
It was a crowded weekend day when Abraham Lincoln, in his
overcoat, and two Union soldiers, their faces covered with bandanas, stepped
out of the van. They meandered past the theater’s five historic doorways toward
the modern glass entrance. Everyone assumed they were part of a promotion
taking place at the museum. It was not uncommon to see park rangers and tour
guides dressed in period costumes.
The man behind the Lincoln mask was Rick Walker—at least,
that was the name he was currently going by. Highly educated, the
thirty-six-year-old professional thief had a penchant for the fast life. If the
assignment was a success today, he’d promised his girlfriend a nice holiday.
Two female park rangers stepped forward when Rick and his
companions reached the front of the line.
“You have to get in line, sir. Also, you need to get
tickets. Kindly remove the mask and bandanas before entering,” one of the park
rangers said.
“I do apologize, madam, but I’m in a bit of a hurry,” Rick
said. “I don’t think I need a ticket, nor do I have to get in line given who I
am.”
“That’s the only way you’re going to get in,” the park
ranger said.
“Well, if you insist,
madam, and once again, please accept my apologies.” Rick bowed and tipped his
hat, then extended a hand to the park ranger, who instinctively took it.
Rick grabbed her wrist tightly and locked it to his own with
a steel cuff.
“What are you doing?” the park ranger yelled, trying to jerk
her hand away.
“Getting acquainted,” Rick said.
The park ranger reached for the walkie-talkie strapped to
her belt, but Rick snatched it away from her. Frantically, she turned to the
other park ranger. “Get security!”
One of the two Union soldiers dropped his prop rifle and
grabbed the other park ranger’s hand, then cuffed her wrist to his own. He
pulled out a real gun tucked under his waistband and aimed it at her.
Rick unbuttoned the jacket of his three-piece suit and
brandished the bomb strapped to his chest.
“Bomb! Bomb!” a young
teenager in the line shrieked.
Pandemonium broke out as the screams of panic amplified.
People ran in every direction. Those who moved slowly were slammed aside, or
knocked over.
Rick pulled the
ranger cuffed to him aside. “We’re going downstairs, and we’re going to take
the Deringer. Obey your president,” he said in a hollow voice.
“Yes, sir,” the park ranger said as beads of sweat formed on
her forehead.
They descended by elevator and emptied into an interactive
museum. The wealth of history in the dimly lit space featured original
artifacts in glass showcases, furniture, statues, murals, and narrative
devices. The visitors already in the museum scattered wildly at the sight of a
man in a Lincoln mask displaying a bomb strapped to his chest, a park ranger
cuffed to his wrist.
“Show’s over, folks,” Rick yelled. “Go!”
The park ranger guided her captors to a section in the
museum where the Deringer floated in an oblong glass case capped at both ends
with wood. A mural behind it depicted John Wilkes Booth firing a single shot at
Abraham Lincoln as he sat in the theater box.
The Union soldier not cuffed to a park ranger took out a
glasscutter from his coat pocket and began to cut a circle in the glass. When
it popped free, he inserted his hand inside and yanked out the Deringer.
“We’re going to take you with us. Don’t give me trouble. If
you behave, you’ll be back home in time for dinner with the family,” Rick said,
dragging the park ranger closer to him. “Understand?”
The park ranger nodded once, nervously.
“Excellent,” Rick
said.
They exited through the theater’s main door and stepped out
into the empty street. The crowd had dispersed. Some had regrouped tensely a
few hundred meters away at both ends. “Cheer up—it’s going to be a fun day,”
Rick said, walking toward the van.
The park ranger with
Rick raised her voice. “Please, please, let us go. I don’t want to die.”
“Well, behave and everything will be fine.” He opened the side, forced her in and jumped
in after her. He shut the door after the accomplice had climbed in with the
second park ranger.
The van began to move off.
“Hallelujah!” Rick yelled in excitement behind the mask as
he sat at the back of the van. He
removed the cuff from his wrist and secured the park ranger onto a railing.
“We’ll be arriving in five,” the driver said after a few
blocks. “You know what to do.”
“I sure do,” Rick said as he removed the bomb strapped to
his chest. Still wearing the mask, he looked at the hostages. “Don’t worry
about the bomb, it’s fake.”
He unhooked a tote bag from the wall and began removing the
contents. Facing away from the hostages, he removed the Lincoln mask and
slipped into casual attire. He hid his face by putting on a red baseball cap
and a pair of dark shades then stuffed the costume into the bag and swung it
over his shoulder.
Rick looked again at the park rangers. “Look on the bright
side—now you get to tell visitors a different story at the museum.”
The Union soldier in the back with him handed over the
Deringer, which Rick slipped into the bag.
The driver slowed down and stopped behind a parked car.
“All good outside?” Rick asked.
“Yeah…all good. I parked a few cars behind us,” the driver
replied, looking at the side mirror.
“Okay. Nice doing business with you guys.” Rick pulled open
a trapdoor in the center of the floorboard, slid out, and slithered under the
parked car in front of the van.
The van pulled away from the curb and sped down the street.
After a minute, Rick rolled onto the road, got up, and walked toward the park
at Judiciary Square on the Red Line and descended into the Metro.
A day later, Rick sat at a café with his eyes glued to the
screen of a laptop, drinking a hot latte with his back against the wall. He
scanned the faces of everyone who entered. Though he wasn’t expecting trouble,
he remained vigilant.
“Is it in yet?” the tall blonde sitting across from him
asked.
He scratched the roughness of his stubble as he continued to
stare at the screen. “Not yet.”
Moments later, the figures on his account changed. A new
deposit had been registered: ten million dollars.
Rick lifted his eyes. “Darling.”
“Yeah?”
“Remember, we’re in a public place, so don’t scream.”
She leaned forward. “It’s in?”
Rick wriggled his eyebrows. “Pack your bags.
We’re going on a holiday, as I promised.”
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