Who Better To Know A Great Villain Than The Master Villain Himself?

April 11, 2011 - PRLog -- “I love a great villain,” says America’s famous TV bad guy, Abu Fayed, from Season 6 of the hit television series, 24. “Great villains demand great heroes and The Identity Factor has both. This book is full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing to the very end.”

Abu Fayed was played by the accomplished actor, Adoni Maropis, who was flawless in his role as the villain everyone loved to hate. Entertainment Weekly had this to say: “It takes a hell of a guy to rattle our unflappable hero [Jack Bauer]. Enter Abu Fayed, who proves his multitasking prowess...by torturing Bauer while also coordinating multiple terrorist plots.”

“I was pretty excited by Adoni’s comments,” says The Identity Factor’s Kansas-born, Adelaide-based author, James Houston Turner. “Like everyone else on the planet, I was mesmerized by his gripping performance in 24. He was terrifyingly convincing. But the real-life Adoni is nothing like his character. He’s one of the funniest guys you’ll ever meet, his athletic ability is out of this world, and he’s written an extraordinarily cinematic screenplay set in Greece during World War II. He’s a terrifically talented individual, and a good friend.”

Turner says the origin of his nefarious villain, Abu Nazer, dates back to his years as a smuggler behind the old Iron Curtain, where he began researching KGB terrorist training tactics for his novel, Department Thirteen, which will be published in September by Comfort Publishing. “Abu Nazer was born from that research,” he explains. “The KGB were masters at layered identities and deadly assassins.”

But the layered complexities of this book do not end there. Set in Cairo, Jerusalem, Austin, Washington, DC, and San Francisco, The Identity Factor is a sweeping tale about a Texas journalist pursuing the identity of Abu Nazer, whom no one has ever seen. The journalist, however, finds his own deeper agenda threatened when a rookie analyst with the CIA begins peeling back the layers of his hidden identity. At the center of the story is an ancient stone tablet discovered in the Sinai Peninsula in 1919. The tablet makes a stunning declaration about Jerusalem that has the CIA running scared. They fear he will use it to ignite Armageddon. And Abu Nazer has been using that fear against them because someone at the Agency has been leaking him information.

Writes book critic Stephen Davenport, of The Independent Weekly: “Turner leads the reader through a labyrinth of secret identities, covert activities, CIA investigations, terrorism, religion, and political maneuvering until the satisfying conclusion. Expertly executed, taut, [and] smart, The Identity Factor is a wonderfully old-fashioned suspense thriller that works.”

Turner remembers stumbling across the unique literary construction of the biblical book of Genesis while attending the University of Houston Clear Lake, where he earned his Master’s Degree. “I knew I’d found something controversial. I just didn’t know what to do with it until years later, during my research into the KGB. That’s when the storyline of archaeology, an assassin, and layered identities came together to provide the backbone of this story. That “ah-ha!” moment occurred in Berlin, when a bunch of us were sitting around a table in a cafe. We had all been traveling behind the Iron Curtain using false identities, and we were laughing and sitting there together enjoying coffee when I realized none of us knew one another -- not really -- even though we were ‘friends.’ So I wondered: what if one of us is really an assassin working for the other side? What if he had this controversial ancient tablet and was using it to manipulate people and events as part of this brilliant scheme to escape the tightening noose of the CIA? What if a journalist with his own secret motives collides with the CIA while going after the assassin? What an exhilarating moment, and I went on to complete The Identity Factor in 2001. Then came the attack on the Twin Towers, and overnight no publisher wanted anything that was Middle Eastern. But I refused to give up on the story, and finally, after all this time, my novel is having its chance.”

Says Comfort Publishing’s Book Division President, Pam Tolen: “Originally self-published in Australia, where it earned finalist awards in four U.S. book competitions -- including the National Best Books Awards and the Eric Hoffer Award -- this book grabbed my attention from the very first sentence. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in anthropology and love thrillers with archaeological elements. I’m really excited about this one, and it’s already been adapted for film.”

The Identity Factor is available now on eBook from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/The-Identity-Factor-ebook/dp/B004TO...

Review copies may be requested from Jason Huddle at Comfort Publishing.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A native of Kansas, James turned to writing fiction as a result of his years as a smuggler behind the old Iron Curtain. He has been on a KGB watchlist, organized secret midnight meetings with informants, located hidden mountain bunkers, and investigated legends of forgotten tunnels beneath the cobblestones and bricks of some of Central Europe’s most venerated cathedrals.

In 1991, James was diagnosed with cancer, but having neither health insurance nor the $200,000 needed for an operation, he was refused treatment in San Diego, where he was living at the time. He flew to Australia, where for $17,000 doctors removed a tumor the size of an orange from his face. The odds of his surviving eighteen months were not good. But he beat those odds, and in April, 2011, celebrated his twentieth anniversary.

A former journalist in Los Angeles, he holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Baker University and a Master’s Degree from the University of Houston - Clear Lake. He and his wife, Wendy, a former triathlon winner, live in Adelaide, South Australia.

You may visit James Houston Turner at his website: http://www.jameshoustonturner.com.