Twelve Down: A Dozen Stories for Young Readers

12 Short Stories by the Tunbridge Wells Writers (Draft Copy)At age fourteen Femi Akindele, an orphaned street-boy from the Makoko slum in Lagos decided to call himself Pastor Gabriel Joshua. Unqualified and self-taught and now in his mid-forties Gabriel has become a highly acclaimed international speaker on African affairs, economics, terrorism, corruption, fraud and the widespread poverty and economic migration that results. But Gabriel soon discovers that popularity never guarantees solutions or support for change. Together with his loyal, boyhood friend Tunde Oyedepo who, aged thirteen, became Solomon, Gabriel’s long ambition has been to create an alternative society funded by private donations and profits from their own company, Solomon Trading. But the area he has chosen for his economic experiment lies on the poverty ridden but dangerous northern borders of Nigeria and, if he is to achieve anything and attract investment, it’ll need defending from the ongoing terrorism that still plagues the area. With the US, UK and other Western powers still unwilling to help, Gabriel again decides to do it himself with a small, private army run by an ex British SAS soldier. But then Gabriel receives notice of an international arrest warrant falsely alleging fraud, corruption and money-laundering by Solomon Trading in connection with a big Nigerian government contract. This is followed by the murder of Solomon Trading’s London-based manager. In an attempt to understand what is going on and who is behind it, they employ the services of London-based international commercial crime investigators Asher & Asher. What Mark Dobson from A & A uncovers is a mixture of corporate politics – Russian and French – and a highly-organised group of wealthy and corrupt individuals already financing a terrorist operation (the COK) with one purpose in mind – the overthrow of the democratically elected Nigerian President and the establishment of a vast, new West African state. What stands in their way is the widespread popularity of Gabriel Joshua, the recently elected Nigerian President Hamed Massoud Azazi. and the newly appointed head of the Nigerian State Security Service, Colonel Martin Abisola. With the story covering events in London, Washington, Cairo and Nigeria, “An Honourable Fake” is a powerful follow-up novel to Terry Morgan’s “The Malthus Pandemic” and the second in the Asher & Asher series.