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Daniela’s Story

July 28, 2022

Meet Daniela Balmes!

A stunning Catalan girl in her early twenties, Daniela arrives at the front-line camp of an al-Qaeda unit during fierce fighting against government forces in northern Syria. Masquerading as a vehement jihadi, she’s operating deep undercover. Sent by the counter-terrorism unit of Spain’s Guardia Civil, her mission is to identify al-Amin … the mysterious new supreme leader of al-Qaeda. He’s a handpicked protégé of Osama bin Laden.

This three-book series, starting with The Girl From Barcelona, reveals Daniela’s story. Her life begins happily in rural Catalunya. Then, in a tragic twist of events, she loses her whole family in the horrific Atocha train station bombing in Madrid in 2004. She’s eight years old. Under the guardianship of her uncle—a powerful officer at GEO 60—she is groomed as a spy. But he’s a traitor. Raphael Robles is working with al-Amin to re-establish Spain as a Muslim caliphate, as it had been for 800 years before the Crusaders. Finally, the return of Al-Andalus to Muslim hands.

Early in the story, it’s clear that Daniela is a gifted undercover agent. Fluent in Arabic and groomed brilliantly in the dark arts of spycraft, she fools everyone. She’s under government orders but has her own agenda and steals a fortune in laundered funds. Why has she gone rogue?

Girl On the Run expands the plot and adds more fascinating backstories. Daniela’s journey takes her to and from Spain, to North Africa and war-torn Syria and Iraq. Then to Turkey and Cyprus. She is beguiling, devious and deceptive. She’s on the run and needs luck, as well as determination, to outwit some very smart detectives and international security forces. The question everyone is asking: Whose side is Daniela really on?

Girl With A Vengeance is the third book in this trilogy. It spins an intricately woven web of backstories already in play. The plot goes into overdrive with twists and turns that will challenge the most experienced reader of detective fiction and espionage. A compelling read.

I hope you enjoy Daniela’s story!

Peter