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The Ottoman Secret

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The Ottoman Secret

By: Raymond Khoury
Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Ottoman Secret by Raymond Khoury, read by Raphael Corkhill.

'The best what-if thriller for a long, long time' LEE CHILD

'An alternative history tale that will blow your mind. A story strung along the centuries that is thoroughly engrossing and one you will long remember' DAVID BALDACCI

The Ottoman Secret is a sweeping thriller which will captivate fans of Man in the High Castle, Fatherland and The Handmaid's Tale

PARIS 2017. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE HAS RULED EUROPE FOR OVER 300 YEARS

As a respected special investigator for the state police, Kamal Agha is committed to keeping the empire safe from threats inside and out. But these are dangerous times in the empire. Under the sultan's autocratic regime, no one is beyond suspicion.

When a naked man covered in tattoos appears on the banks of the Seine and murders a passerby, Kamal is tasked with tracking him down. But asking too many questions can be a highly risky endeavor-especially when the mysterious man's trail leads Kamal to a secret buried deep in the empire's past, a secret that goes to the very core of the empire's success. A secret the sultan and his security services will do anything to silence.

Kamal is forced to question his own loyalty when his own family attracts unwelcome attention from the security services. Soon, he has no choice but to flee. But on the run from the all-seeing organisation with which he made his reputation, can he save himself and his family?

And, if he does, what might that mean for the existence of the Empire itself? Its past, it's present and its future ...

__________

'A tour de force of storytelling and concept. Thrilling, disturbing, inspiring, it left me all too often in awe' JAMES ROLLINS

'The Ottoman Secret is a masterpiece. A compelling saga, on a grand scale. A stellar epic' STEVE BERRY

 Espionage Fiction Genre Fiction Military Science Fiction Spies & Politics Supernatural Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military Thriller Crime Paranormal Imperialism

Critic Reviews

The best what-if thriller for a long, long time (LEE CHILD)
A tour de force in both storytelling and breadth of concept. It is story not just of an alternate history but a cautionary tale that directly impacts and reflects upon the struggles of our time and place. It is thrilling, disturbing, inspiring, and left me all too often in awe. This book will make you look at history-and your role in it-in an all new light. Be prepared to be forever impacted, forever changed. (JAMES ROLLINS)
A dystopian thriller that wears its smartness on its sleeve . . . will appeal to fans of The Handmaid's Tale . . . I suspect that this summer, you'll never be far from someone who has been claimed by The Ottoman Secret
Alternate histories don't get much better than this thought-provoking mind bender... Superior and plausible worldbuilding matches an ingeniously imaginative conceit. This ranks as a classic of the genre.
The Ottoman Secret is a masterpiece. A compelling saga, on a grand scale, with food for thought on every fascinating page. It's a breath of fresh air, an alternate history firing on all cylinders that will stay with you long after finishing. A stellar epic. (STEVE BERRY)
A world-class writer of pure-bred thrillers
Raymond Khoury has created an alternative history tale that will blow your mind. A story strung along the centuries that is thoroughly engrossing and one you will long remember. (DAVID BALDACCI)
The real excitement in Khoury's complex multi-plot comes not from the thrills on the surface, but from the ideas underneath
Alternate history...tons of adventure...this is real fun. Not just an intelligent, immersive thriller, but also a timely visit to a reality that easily could've been. So well researched and written it feels chillingly real. As thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
Alternative history yarns are still very much in vogue and Raymond Khoury has come up with a fine addition to the genre.
All stars
Most relevant
"It's a rip roaring page turner," said the RNZ (Radio New Zealand) reviewer before adding the magic words, "time travel/alternate history". Being something of a fan of this genre I was in.

It goes like this: Iraq army officer is displaced by the war on terror and becomes ever more disaffected. Eventually radicalised he joins ISIS and becomes a specialist in torture and interrogation.

A hapless Syrian antiquities expert is captured and under duress gives up a closely guarded secret. Many years earlier while evacuating a temple in the ancient city of Palmira he uncovers an incantation that opens the doors to time, past and future. He understands the dangers and tells no one until he finds himself being tortured for no other reason than he is an academic and thereby an enemy of the ideology of ignorance expounded by ISIS.

Ayman Rasheed (the torturer) is by his own account an extremely erudite intellect and decides that Allah has chosen him (because of this quality) to set things right. He uses the incantation to further the cause of Islam by changing history. He picks a moment in time, develops a plan and lets loose a radically different future.

Fast forward to now. The West does not exist, Europe is Islamic and ruled by a oppressive Ottoman emperor from his palace in Istanbul. Rasheed is well pleased with the success of his plan but when he travels into the future to get treatment for a heart ailment he inadvertently lets slip his secret to his Dr whose wife is an activist lawyer fighting the dark oppressive rule that hallmarks European life.

Dumbfounded by this information she wrestles it into submission and decides to return history back onto to its natural course. Aided by her brother in law, a highly trained police operative, they charge across time battling the manipulative and somewhat psychopathic Rasheed in their quest for justice.

Khoury's book is, as the RNZ reviewer said, a thrilling page turner but he also manages some decent and biting commentary about the current state of the Islamic world and the patriarchal conceits that are handicapping Islamic society. Turkish president Erdogan comes in for some especially virulent criticism as does Trump, the confidence trickster (Khoury's words) that America elected to the Presidency. All in all an absorbing and informative read (the historical element is fascinating)

Absorbing, Rip-Roaring and Fascinating.

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