SENSE OF PLACE
by Arthur Kerns
This week the International Thriller Writers featured in
their Roundtable the topic, “What are your favorite countries for settings?” A
sense of place is important to many writers. The mystery writer Martin Walker is
due to sign his latest novel at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale,
Arizona. He is noted for bringing the world of the Dordogne region of France
alive in his stories.
This month Diversion Books will release my novel The Yemen
Contact. The action takes place in Sicily, Italy, but mainly Yemen, the
mysterious, largely unknown country on the southern tip of the Arabian
Peninsula. There amongst the rugged beauty of an ancient land nearly every man
carries an AK-47. The surroundings definitely keep my protagonist, Hayden
Stone, on his toes while he tries to save Western Civilization.
Tarim in the eastern part of Yemen
I recall flying into Sana’a airport back in 1999. The
airport handled both commercial and military aircraft. Parked off the runway
sat vintage Russian MIG-15 fighters, droopy-winged four engine Ilyushin
transports, and derelict helicopters lined up in rows more for a toothless show
than ready combat. Taking a deep breath I could taste the dust.
The drive to the capitol, Sana’a, takes a little less than an hour on a
good day, one without traffic jams or police checks. I never enjoy the ride
from the airport: it doesn’t pass my romanticized image of Yemen. Garages,
machine shops, and ramshackle eateries line the tarred road littered with
trash. Some of the buildings had been interesting to look at years ago, but now
had fallen into a form of suburban decay. Dust and diesel oil hang in the air.
My hotel, the Taj Sheba, in downtown Sana’a never seems to
change and is the reason I stay there and not at other hotels that Westerners
frequent.
The city always looks busy, not too loud, and from the front stairs of
the hotel you look out and beautiful buildings surround you. A calm, tawny
setting brushed by dusty, wood burning smells. Along the street women pass by fully
covered in black robes accompanied by men in tribal attire, their ornate
daggers, the jambiya, tucked in their
belts, many have AK-47 Kalashnikovs slung across their backs. This is the
Sana’a I know.
That night after an unremarkable dinner, an occasion during a previous
trip came to mind and prompted me to leave the hotel. I walked along the busy
street, turned into a narrow dark lane toward the old city, and passed a souk
dealing in vegetables and fruit. At the open square I had visited years before,
I stopped.
Before me I viewed a moving magical, fantasy world. Dim light bulbs,
candles, and propane lamps hanging from carts and trailers revealed in a soft
glow Yemenis standing and sitting around their makeshift stands that displayed
their wares. The voices and calls were not harsh, but at once earnest, happy,
and argumentative. The locals ignored me and left me in peace to take in the
scene.
The angular multilevel buildings surrounding the square reflected the yellow
glow from market lights. The structures twinkled colors from stained glass
windows, some which were large, many small and all in various round and oblong
shapes. They were haphazardly positioned on the building facades.
I looked up at the sky and saw the sharp cold stars. The last time there
I remembered my colleague, Richard, say softly, “This is the closest you’ll
ever get to the Arabian Nights.”
Shibam in the Wadi Hadhramawt
Due to the present war and turmoil the country is off limits
to travelers. I hope my novel, The Yemen
Contract, can provide a look into this forbidden world.
For me a book’s setting is very important, a character
itself, that not only serves as background tapestry but something for my
characters to take into consideration as they travel through the story.
Arthur Kerns is a
retired FBI supervisory special agent with a career in counterintelligence and
counterterrorism. He spent a year studying Arabic at the Defense Language
Institute in Monterey, California. A past president of the Arizona chapter of
the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) his award-winning short
fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies. He is a book reviewer for the
Washington Independent Review of Books. Diversion Books, Inc. NY, NY published
his espionage thriller, The Riviera Contract,
and the sequel, The African Contract.
The third in the series, The Yemen
Contract, was released in June 2016.
See more in
author’s website, www.arthurkerns.com
3 comments :
I felt like I was right there with you, Art.
It's likely true that not many Americans will travel and see what you saw, but they can see it through your eyes.
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