Current events and Writing. The Problems of Hashim Abasi

Part of the problems with writing a political thriller is that geopolitical situations change all the times. Sometimes daily.  Some writers find their ways around it easily.


Vince Flynn, for example is the creator of Mitch Rapp, CIAssassin. He apparently decided to skip over the Obama administration by writing American Assassin-- I guess he didn't think that having a hit man on the payroll would be compatible with the 2008 election results.

American Assassin was essentially an origin story set soon after the Lockerbie bombing, and showing how his main character got into the business of killing America's enemies.

With the author Brad Thor, he found away around policy changes by taking his main character, Scot Harvath, out of the government altogether. Harvath, a Secret Service agent with a license to kill, had actually been alienated by the federal government well before 2008. Harvath went out to become a private security agent, occasionally pulling jobs for the Department of Defense.

However, the author has been interviewed by Glenn Beck repeatedly, so you can guess where his politics lie.  But, for his novels, the only politics that matter are "People who try to kill Americans wholesale need to be killed."

And then there's my case.  In A Pius Man, you might notice from time to time that there is the name of Hashim Abasi.  Hashim is in the story to bring in various international elements. He is a brilliant street cop, he has a political science degree from Oxford, and he specialized in international politics before being sucked back into his home life. He has a dark secret in his past, but aside from that, he serves as a neutral party in the world of Vatican politics and religious griping -- it's not his religion.

What could be the problem? What could possibly go wrong?

Hashim Abasi is an Egyptian cop.

Want to guess what happened to mess that up?

There was a little revolution in Egypt a while ago. You may have heard about it here and there.  The army had taken over, President Hosni Mubarak had resigned.  Like in Belfast, being an average cop does not seem like a very safe position.


Then it gets better.

While initial rumors had been dismissed, it seems that the Muslim Brotherhood will be assuming a leadership role within the emergent Egyptian government.  In fact, there seems to be a new Nazi party under construction.

Hmm, if this becomes a matter of the MB truly taking over, then Hashim Abasi, who is supposed to be reasonably sane, is going to be screwed.

However, thankfully, I have my father. Who has suggested making a simple readjustment. At one point, Hashim will say, "Whenever the Sunnis are in power, all of the crooks are 'Shi'a,' and when the Shi'a are in power, all of the crooks are 'Sunni'. That way, everyone is happy, and I can do my job."

Some solutions really are easier than others.