I am currently adding the finishing touches to my latest Jack Bond spy thriller. Set against a backdrop of Iranian nuclear shenanigans, it is called Checkmate In Tehran, and once more finds CIA agent Jack fighting for his life in a deadly game of chess in which the board is unexpectedly turned over and everyone is suddenly playing a deadly game of backgammon on the other side instead. Fortunately for Jack he is equipped with the magnetic travel edition, and so none of his pieces get lost in the complex patterns of the Persian rug he is playing on.
In the penultimate chapter, Jack confronts President Ahmadinejad during a game of Monopoly when his counter lands on the Electric Company. Jack demands to know if the Electric Company is actually a secret lab where Ahmadinejad and his cronies are surreptitiously developing nuclear weapons. Ahmadinejad says no, of course not, it's just a game of Monopoly, and then orders that Jack be taken directly to jail without collecting two hundred dollars.
I won't reveal what happens in the end, except that it involves Jack in a tense Scrabble tournament in which two different dictionaries are being used. It's gripping stuff.
