Kiss of the White Scorpion

About the Book

This book concerns a fictional story about acts of terrorism happening in Greece and London around 1991. Although the organization known only as Othello have not released any demands, further investigation points to an incident that happened during the Cyprus conflict of 1974. SEALS, returning from Vietnam, trained thirteen Greek soldiers to function as a separate UDT team. One of the Greeks is Gabriel Mavroangelakis, a former KYP agent that had been used to infiltrate and identify communist agitators to the military dictatorship governing at the time. The task of this secret UDT, known as the Y-Scorpions, was not clear at the time, but when the CIA realized the real mission they had to intervene to preserve the political balance that had been upset in Cyprus. So it was, these thirteen soldiers were betrayed. After 17 years, those who survived have scores to settle and missions to complete.

The story, however, is more than a mere vehicle for revenge. Beyond its cynical view and its dark humour, there are moments of touching humanity. The characters are complex, but at the same time have an earthy quality, expressed by their loss and desires. The corruption and ignorance that surrounds our daily lives is the real enemy and not the person that we were taught in school to hate.

In this labyrinth of Byzantine corridors, where the right handshake opens any door, everyone is competing to win, only to find that there is no exit. Ejder, a young Turkish immigrant is seeking retribution for his uncle's death in Istanbul.

A sinister character known as The Master recruits him into a terrorist cell. Ejder becomes trapped in a web of intrigue and violence. A British agent in Greece has almost infiltrated the Albanian mafia, headed by The Roman, reputed to be a former agent. The British believe that they supply weapons to terrorists. The Chief of the Greek police is also competing with Yiannis, a Greek agent, to uncover the mystery. Behind them is the Minister of Justice, a man with a promising career that doesn't like obstacles in his path.

They are also searching for a freelance journalist named Anne. She has a habit of getting stories and pictures that the authorities would not like to see published.

Panikos, a shopowner and frustrated gambler, is shocked when he discovers that his son, Petros, was attacked. He suspects that it has something to do with his missing son and a certain soldier, whose badge showed a scorpion.

Even though many of the scenes and characters are fictional, a lot of research and interviews were made to keep the feel of the story realistic. There are no winning sides. There are no righteous causes. All we have is a vast population with different ideas that find it difficult to live with one another. Tragedy happens around us every day, sometimes on a miniscule scale and sometimes atrocities on a global scale. One day I switched on the TV and watched the news. It showed the mothers of the people that went missing since the Cyprus conflict of '74. They held photographs of their sons and the grief on their faces was only slightly compensated by a tiny flicker of hope that they might still be alive; that they might return home. This news item was on for less than a minute. The gracious TV channel then spent half an hour discussing what nightclub some VIP would be going, to celebrate her birthday. This is an outrage. Maybe there is something more that we could do, myself included, but I hope that by penning some words together for any reader that can spare the precious time, I can preserve the memory of this forgotten chapter in history.

I cannot express enough words of gratitude that there are companies like Trafford that support creativeness and the freedom for writers to express their work, unlike those that would prefer to dissect, cut and mutilate a noble cause for their personal profit.

Enjoy.

To learn more please visit www.kissofthewhitescorpion.com

About the Author

Born in London, 1968. Raised in the UK and Greece. Has also lived in Gabon and the Bahamas. Went to Homefield School, Dorset and studied at Kilburn Polytechnic and The City & East London College. Also studied part-time as an actor at Mountview Theatre School. He likes books, films, dogs, swimming and 'decent' video games. Has worked in the casino industry for many years and lives in a quiet village in Greece.