About this item
Empire of Lies is a sweeping thriller in the tradition of The Man in the High Castle, Fatherland, and Underground Airlines from New York Times bestselling author Raymond Khoury."The best what-if thriller for a long, long time -- makes you think, makes you sweat, and makes you choose, between what is and what might have been." -- Lee Child Istanbul, 1683: Mehmed IV, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is preparing to lay siege to Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, when a mysterious visitor arrives in his bedroom -- naked, covered in strange tattoos -- to deliver a dangerous, world-changing message. Paris, 2017: Ottoman flags have been flying over the great city for three hundred years, ever since its fall -- along with all of Europe -- to the empire's all-conquering army. Notre Dame has been renamed the Fatih Mosque. Public spaces are segregated by gender. And Kamal Arslan Agha, a feted officer in the sultan's secret police, is starting to question his orders.Rumors of an impending war with the Christian Republic of America, attacks by violent extremists, and economic collapse have heightened surveillance and arrests across the empire. Tasked with surveying potential threats, Kamal has a heavy caseload -- and conscience.When a mysterious stranger -- naked, covered in strange tattoos -- appears on the banks of the Seine, Kamal is called in to investigate. But what he discovers is a secret buried in the empire's past, a secret the Sultan will do anything to silence.With the mysterious Z Protectorate one step behind, Kamal, together with Nisreen -- a fierce human rights lawyer -- is caught up in a race across the empire and time itself -- a race that could change their world, or destroy it.Empire of Lies is being published as "The Ottoman Secret" in the UK.
About the Author
Raymond Khoury is the author of five consecutive New York Times bestsellers, starting with his debut novel, THE LAST TEMPLAR.
Raymond came to writing thrillers from a career in screenwriting, which includes the BAFTA award winning BBC series SPOOKS (aka MI:5 in the US) and Waking The Dead. It partly explains why his novels are often described as cinematic and very visual. As fellow bestselling author Steve Berry puts it: "his expertly chosen verbs cause the scenes to leap from the page. You can literally feel the blows as they're landed; wince as the bullets find their marks. He has an intense brand of storytelling all his own."
Raymond's thrillers are based on big themes that interest him such as international politics and conspiracies, fact vs faith, why we age and die, what do we really know about reincarnation, about mind control. He explores these themes in depth, with heavy emphasis on research, and often combines a historical angle to his stories. As such, some of his novels (THE LAST TEMPLAR, THE SANCTUARY, THE TEMPLAR SALVATION, RASPUTIN'S SHADOW) feature dual timelines: the bulk of the stories are set in the present day, interspersed with chapters that take place in the distant past. As Booklist puts it, "Khoury's thrillers engage the reader's mind, even as they move at a breakneck pace. Readers who like their thrillers to have a solid intellectual component will enjoy Khoury's books very much. Given the high quality of each of his novels, it seems fair to say that he may be around for a while."
Raymond's 7th novel, THE END GAME, is released on March 10, 2016. To find out more about him and his work, visit his website at raymondkhoury.com or connect with him on his Facebook page.
