The Iraqi Deception

In the lead up to the second Gulf War, Saddam Hussein has acquired through the Russian mafia a sizeable quantity of biological weapons, specifically weapons grade anthrax. As yet undiscovered by the allies' monitoring agencies, he is concerned that its discovery might bring about an attack on his country and so arranges for it to be hidden outside Iraq.

The allies invade anyway and in the chaos following the conflict, the anthrax vanishes. British Intelligence is determined to find and secure the stockpile but they are up against criminal enterprises and nation states that would equally like to possess the anthrax for their own ends. The stage is thus set for a calamitous showdown, which will play out in the Yellow Sea and the back streets of Hong Kong.

This is a fast moving story that takes the reader through the Middle East, Russia and South East Asia. Barker seamlessly weaves fact and fiction into a powerful page-turner at the end of which one is left asking; did this really happen?