A former intelligence officer, Joe holds degrees from the Defense Language Institute and Suffolk University Law School. His freelance writing has featured in WSJ and been syndicated by Reuters.
COLUMBIA is based on Joe's experience as a US Army intelligence officer and interrogator working on counter-terrorism between 2001 and 2006.
COLUMBIA is a crackling story that draws its inspiration from inside the mind of an intel officer who is familiar with the most grave threats to our country and the nefarious ways in which divisive groups plot to exploit weaknesses in our nation and its security infrastructure.
The story has its genesis in Joe's desire to tell an espionage story that moves like the genre's best page-turners but challenges the trope that the spy hero is always a ruggedly handsome man who can kill ten bad guys with a toothpick.
Sami Lakhani is a different kind of spy hero. The decision to make the protagonist of the story a Muslim-American and part of the LGBT community arose from three choices.
First, the artistic choice to do everything possible to represent historically underrepresented groups in mainstream fiction.
Second, Sami's sexual identity plays and important part in shaping the early plot as the presumed driver of the estrangement between him and his conservative grandfather. As readers soon discover, there is a dark family secret that Sami has long suspected that truly lies at the heart of their separation.
Third, in spite of every movie and book portrayal, the people of the IC are not all square-jawed muscle men or women with cunning to match their knockout looks. Sami represents the cerebral and immensely talented people who serve in our IC, many of whom are newly-arrived Americans with strong cultural, linguistic and family ties throughout the world.
A first-time novelist, Joe holds undergraduate degrees from Boston University (BA, English) and the Defense Language Institute (AA, Russian), and a JD from Suffolk University Law School. As a lawyer, he was writing assistant on one of the definitive legal reference manuals for energy and environmental law. Joe's freelance writing has featured in the Wall Street Journal and been syndicated by Reuters.
COLUMBIA is Joe's first novel. If it is wildly successful and publishers are willing to let him write anything he wants next, he has already prepared a nonfiction proposal for SOCCER, SAVE MY SOUL, a soccer travelogue and guide to the beautiful game for Americans.
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Columbia Supporters:
There is one week left to pre-order Columbia at https://pszr.co/rLFfm.
Columbia is a spy thriller about Sami Lakhani, a gay, Muslim-American working in the dark corners of US intelligence. When Sami is tasked with stopping a suspected terror plot that has roots in the mosque where he grew up, he is forced back into the orbit of his estranged grandfather. Sami was content to let everyone - even his spy handler - believe that Sami's sexuality was at the heart of their family discord, but there is actually a very dark secret in his grandfather's past which Sami has long suspected but never had the courage to confront. But now, with indications that the plot Sami is assigned to stop is actually being orchestrated by a White Nationalist group that is tied to a White House aide and which seeks to strike at America's cultural flashpoints by framing Muslim-Americans for terror attacks, Sami must bare his family's secrets and take on nefarious elements of his own government.
That's Columbia in a nutshell: 154 words.
Now, can I ask two favors?
1) Help me outsmart Dunbar's Number - Please send the link for pre-orders and the 154 words above to a friend and ask them to check out the book. My personal network of friends, family and colleagues (YOU!) have already been so supportive of the book, but to get more pre-orders during this final week I will need the book to get in front of people that I don't know personally. If you want to send it to two or three friends, that would be veen better. If you want to send it to your entire email list, go crazy! I'll not stop you! By the way, I did not intentionally make the 154-word summary above lie within the Dunbar's Number range, but I love a happy accident.
2) House Party 3 - I am not referring to the phenomenal third House Party film, which was also Chris Tucker's film debut. I am referring to three remaining house party packages that are still available for Columbia pre-orders. Please consider upgrading your current order to a House Party Package so that I can add you to the amazing book tour already scheduled.
The tour begins with a Bruno Mars reference that I could not have intended but am grateful presented itself, with parties booked in Harlem, Hollywood, and Jackson, Mississippi.
Alright, in point of fact the first two parties are in Queens and The Valley, but the third is in Jackson, MS and that's certainly close enough to inject some Uptown Funk into your day. Other parties are booked in Atlanta, Boston, Raleigh, and little ole' hometown Davidson, NC.
That's all for today, dear readers. Two big favors to ask. I don't take them lightly. Thank you so much!
Only a few more days of Columbia emails headed your way. I am sorry for my ongoing presence in your inbox, but I am grateful for your support.
Thank you,
Joey
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