KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

“During his long career in Washington, Bob Graham became one of the Senate’s most respected authorities on national security. His novel delivers uncommon insight into the treacherous and sometimes frantic craft of intelligence gathering. It’s also an insider lesson on the maddening politics of trying to keep America safe from terrorists. It reads like a true story because Graham knows where the truth lies.” —Carl Hiaasen, New York Times bestselling author

 “Keys to the Kingdom ignites like a Homeland Security briefing and The Situation Room colliding head-on. Current, fast-paced, and crackles with the authenticity of someone who has obviously been ‘in the room.’” —Andrew Gross, #1 New York Times bestselling author

 “Graham is able to present a narrative about the threats we face in an exciting and fast-paced novel. Read this book and you will become more expert in understanding our dangerous world.”—Jane Harman, Former Congresswoman and President, CEO, and Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former member of the House Intelligence Committee

Respected and trusted by leaders on both sides of the political aisle, Senator Bob Graham was Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a presidential candidate with 18 years of service in the United States Senate, and a two-term Governor of Florida. Now, based on actual events, he has written a compelling political thriller, Keys to the Kingdom (Vanguard Press; June 2011; $25.99). With a story line that cuts chillingly close to true-life dealings, it raises penetrating questions and all-too-real, alarming predictions.

Retired U.S. Senator John Billington, a co-chair of the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry Commission, sets off a firestorm of protest when he suggests in a New York Times op-ed that Saudi Arabia — aka “The Kingdom” — was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Billington asks: Will Saudi Arabia assist in future attacks within the U.S., does the Kingdom have the bomb, and why is the Administration engaged in a comprehensive, sustained cover-up to keep answers from the American people?

Less than two weeks later, Billington is murdered — but not before slipping a detailed briefing to ex-Special Forces operative Tony Ramos, a street-smart Miami Cuban, proficient in Pashto and Arabic, with a love of fine clothing that has tagged him “the Will Smith of State” at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Soon Tony is on the road and on the run for his life, collaborating with Billington’s estranged, enticing, and egotistical daughter Laura to solve her father’s murder and discover the hidden agendas that ominously threaten the security of America and the world.

In a race against time, betrayals, and layers of deceit, Tony uncovers a shocking international conspiracy linking Saudi Arabia — the Kingdom — to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, in an investigation that spans Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Afghanistan. Targeted by an assassin and framed for murder, will he be able to honor the senator’s last wish and thwart al-Qaeda’s planned nuclear attacks, as they escalate toward a final massacre in the United States?

In Keys to the Kingdom, Senator Bob Graham delivers a page-turner that sounds a warning and is thoroughly entertaining.