Friday, June 19, 2009

"The Tehran Conviction"

Tom Gabbay is the author of The Berlin Conspiracy and The Lisbon Crossing. He previously worked for NBC Entertainment as director of children's and comedy programs, and was creative director of the production partnership between NBC and ITV Television in the United Kingdom.

He applied the “Page 69 Test” to his new novel, The Tehran Conviction, and reported the following:
If you opened to page 69 of The Tehran Conviction, you might wonder why the main character, Jack Teller, feels the need for a quick dip in a cold tub after the sultry Leyla sneaks out of his hotel room in the middle of the night. But you wouldn’t get much else out of the six lines at the end of Chapter 9, so perhaps you’d turn to page 70, were you might wonder what on earth Jack’s Iranian driver is trying to say when he quotes one of his many pearls of wisdom …

“Marriage is like the uncut watermelon,” he said, catching my eye in the rearview mirror.

Jack has no idea what the adage means, either, but he’s been in Tehran six weeks now – long enough to become accustomed to talking across the culture gap. As an operative for the newly formed CIA, Jack’s task within Operation Ajax is to befriend Yari Fatemi, a high-ranking government official, and the invitation to a family wedding is the first sign that he’s breaking through the relentless wall of politeness that has characterized their relationship so far. It isn’t until several weeks later, when the two men have formed a bond, that Jack faces the choice of betraying his friend or his country.

Jack carries the decision he makes with him throughout his life until, one day, twenty-six years later, he is presented with an opportunity to redeem himself.
Browse inside The Tehran Conviction, and learn more about the author and his Jack Telller novels at Tom Gabbay's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Lisbon Crossing.

Check out the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.

--Marshal Zeringue