Nicholas Burce

Codename Sentinel Nicholas Burce

WINNER - NEWSPAPER HOUSE LITERARY AWARD - 2012 Security arrangements for a visit to Australia by the US Secretary of State are made under the watchful eye of a beautiful Australian diplomat, stationed in Washington. As the jet carrying the US officials enters Australian air space, intelligence services intercept a coded message, setting alarm bells ringing and prompting a national security operation. All the signs point towards Islamic terrorists. Tom Grant, a rugged, highly decorated Australian SAS Commander just back from Afghanistan, leads a frantic mission to hunt down the suspects. As the gap between the fugitives and their hunters closes, a cruel twist emerges, challenging credulity and threatening a highly explosive international incident. ""Nowhere in the Qur'an is there an exhortation to kill. That is just the Mantra of xenophobic westerners wanting to discredit Islam. Indeed, Chapter 17: Verse 70 of the Q'uran makes interesting reading. It states: 'Respect and honour all human beings irrespective of their religion, colour, race, sex, language, status, property, birth or profession'" "In that instant, Sentinel's eyes assumed a puzzled look . . . then a look of surprise and finally . . . of horror, as he realised he was going to die. The bullet had punched through Sentinel's soft tissue, entering his cranial cavity and exploding out of the side of his face . . . " A masterful narrative, by a master story-teller. "Riveting realism. Riveting suspense-from a master story-teller"