Special Envoy 1

If you like Tom Clancy's Locked On, prepare to be intrigued by Special Envoy 1.

Early 1990, America still practices its foreign policies and intelligence-gathering based on the precepts of the Cold War when, on the heels of her wedding, a PR executive-turned-secret agent sets out on a perilous trek into Arab Islamic territory. Terrorists have brought down the global markets, and America wants to avert further devastation. The American president dispatches a special envoy, Priscilla J. "PJ" Austin, to deliver a concealed envelope to the United Arab Emirates emirs, where the terrorists have substantial holdings.

Priscilla possesses a near-photographic memory. A self-assured woman of diverse ancestry, she closely resembles the people of the Middle East. She also happens to be the CEO of the Bernhardt Foundation, which regularly meets in Harare, Zimbabwe, around the time of her meeting with the UAE emirs. So, whenever she is spotted, she can claim to be conducting PR for the foundation.

Priscilla learns the hard way what it means to be a feminist in Arab Islamic territory. She cannot even talk to or interact with men unless beckoned to do so, for sure, not with the emirs. While in public, she must wear garments that she is unaccustomed to wearing: the hijab (headdress) and an abaya (robe).

Never having been to the UAE, Priscilla is spellbound by the grand, statuesque structures adorned with Islamic symbols. Her CIA handler wants her to get acclimated to the culture ahead of the meeting with the emirs. So she and her CIA escort Melanie stay in a hotel in neighboring Ras al-Khaimah, where Abdul-Hakim, Minister of Cultural Affairs for Dubai and the UAE, prepares to brief her about the culture and how to interact with the emirs. But no sooner than they all step into the hotel's elevator, Abdul-Hakim and Melanie learn about Priscilla's phobias: acrophobia, claustrophobia, and vertigo. Her suite is on the seventeenth floor, but by the time the elevator stops there, Priscilla has already lost her composure.

Her first meeting with the emirs is on the seventieth floor of the Central Bank of Dubai, at the Dubai International Financial Center. But Abdul-Hakim and Melanie need not worry. Priscilla takes several meclizine tablets to control her phobias, and after that, she successfully delivers the concealed envelope to the emirs.

Priscilla then meets with her foundation board, where, shortly into the meeting, things literally fall apart. The ceiling in the conference room caves in, and men wearing what appears to be SWAT gear carrying automatic rifles cling onto ropes as they drop down into the conference room. Already, someone does not want Priscilla to complete her mission.

Shortly afterward, Priscilla and Melanie meet up with NSA Counterintelligence Agent Harry Middleton, who prepares Priscilla for the arduous trek deeper into Arab Islamic territory.

Along the way to her final destination-Amman, Jordan-Priscilla encounters a myriad of unfathomable circumstances. Perhaps most riveting is when she finds herself trapped in a false bottom down deep into the Earth, and no one knows she is there. Making matters worse, as if that were possible, she does not have her meclizine tablets.

All the while, unbeknownst to Priscilla, a special ops unit of the CIA is busy engaging the terrorists who are trying to thwart her mission. Not everyone desires peace in the Middle East. For sure, not everyone wants America's involvement.

Although Special Envoy 1 can be read as a standalone, it might be helpful to first read the trilogy that precedes it: Priscilla Engaging in the Game of Politics, Mystery in Harare, and Three Metal Pellets. Stay tuned because there are two more special envoy narratives!