The Man From Afghanistan

“Polished to perfection – a brilliant international adventure novel!

California author Aithal was born and raised in Mumbai, India, came to the US in 1989 to New York and currently resides in Los Angeles. His books to date include INDIA WAS ONE, and his very popular science fiction series The Galaxy consisting of four volumes – BEYOND THE MILKY WAY, RETURN TO EARTH, DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA, and 2120. Now he ventures into a different genre – an international adventure – and proves that he is equally adept at writing suspenseful espionage themes. THE MAN FROM AFGHANISTAN benefits from his bicultural experience and his knowledge of the political arena

Setting the stage for this involving thriller, the author paints a thoroughly authentic Southern California Orange County wealth-obsessed political ambition scene in the persona of a haughty US Representative (Terence Collins) in his mansion fundraiser, gradually leading into the presence of an offshore boat in the Pacific Ocean: ‘I wonder what that is? Can’t be an SOS signal, he thought. Looks like a long laser-pointer. He followed the beam to see its target. It was dancing on the wall of the house behind him. He followed it as it moved from the second floor’s windows to the first floor. It gradually steadied from its haphazardly oscillating movement, moving from people to people, until it settled on Terence’s chest…The dot was now steadily half-resting on the lapel of his coat while the other half was on the white shirt beneath it...’ That degree of meticulous and terrifying attention to detail makes this novel cinematic!

The story follows the assassination of the senator by terrorist Talib (‘Talib’ from Taliban), a master of disguises and ingenuity, who is followed after the assassination by Detective Anthony Ramirez of the Newport Beach Police Department – a half Mexican and half Indian fascinating character – who follows Talib’s escape from the US to India in preparation to enter Pakistan and then Afghanistan to join the Taliban’s fight against the government – a course of action Anthony must prevent. With brilliant character development of every main participant, and with penetrating insights into political rogueries, and a fine-tuned assessment of the current global dismal tenor, Aithal now emerges as one of the most polished writers of international adventures on the stage today, even surpassing his fame as a sci-fi author. This is a brilliant novel - very highly recommended.”
—Grady Harp, Goodreads