Keys to the Kingdom: A Novel of Suspense. Senator Bob Graham. Vanguard Press. June 2011. ISBN #: 9781593156602.Ex-Special Forces government operative, Tony Ramos, an African-American Cuban skilled investigator is an expert on Afghanistan. Senator Billington and he believe that the Iraq war is a mission that is draining badly needed funds and on-the-ground military forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They see the latter as a powder keg waiting to blow, as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have a huge amounts of funds and support to carry out terrorist attacks that will make 911 look like nursery play. In fact, they believe Saudi Arabia is supplying the bulk of finances and there are many suggestions that the U. S. Government is aware of the connection but choosing to do nothing because of the imminent election. Things begin to rapidly fall apart when Senator Billington is murdered, after receiving a threat of two bullets and neglecting to change his ordinary schedule of activities. The above is not a spoiler in any way, as the mission Billington leaves Tony begins to proceed in a careful, methodical, and deadly way where everyone connected to Tony all of a sudden become at risk potential targets!
Three women will prove to be pivotal in discovering the source of funding and former double agents hired by the U. S. Government and then spurned by the same will lead Tony to discover the source of the funding and the actual connections of the plot behind 911. But that is the goal that quickly becomes superceded by the revelation of the terrorists' larger plans. For they are planning three attacks, each of which will be larger than the former and will definitely result in world-wide chaos, fear and financial disaster. Tony is given the job of stopping the third attack and the sacrifices for achieving success will be huge!
Senator Graham has crafted a novel that poses as much questions as it does answers. There are as many missing as revealed connections, providing descriptions of betrayal that explain just why our Arab neighbors in the U.S.A. and the Middle East hate Americans fiercely. Governments' efforts to stop terrorism are portrayed as flimsy and downright obstructive, at best. Tony is a bit of a fickle character, claiming love and having hot sex with one woman, only to quickly flit to another and then another woman, albeit with some hesitation at first. The plot is tightly spun; and at the end of the novel, readers will be wondering how much is fact and how much is fiction. For this nightmare journey is all too plausible in a world still reeling from 911 and other devastating terrorist events. For those coping with the aftermath of war and terrorism, reading this novel will be memorable and fearfully fascinating - a timely tale sure to be read by those on all sides!
