The Scorpion's Gate is a geopolitical thriller by former United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 intelligence

Intelligence (information gathering)

Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...

 and Counterterrorism official Richard A. Clarke

Richard A. Clarke

Richard Alan Clarke was a U.S. government employee for 30 years, 1973–2003. He worked for the State Department during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush appointed him to chair the Counter-terrorism Security Group and to a seat on the United States National...

.http://www.amazon.com/Scorpions-Gate-Richard-Clarke/dp/0399152946 The Scorpion's Gate is his first novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

, but it is not his first book — unlike his non-fiction

Non-fiction

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

 policy books this is an attempt to convey vital foreign policy ideas through fiction. The subtitle on the cover reads: "Sometimes you can tell more truth through fiction.". The hardcover edition is 320 pages long.

Plot summary

A coup in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 topples the sheiks and installs an Islamic government in its place. The weaknesses of the new government, combined with the oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 riches of the country, attract attention from all over the world as larger, oil-hungry countries attempt to realign the map of the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

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