Khayal

“She moves as stealthily as the darkness for which she was named- Khayal.”

Against the crisp backdrop of the Jordanian desert, the Dead Sea and the living paradise of Aqaba, 27-year-old medic and secret operative, Khayal, lives in the shadows, submerged in a criminal underworld, where lies aren’t just the things you tell yourself to sleep at night; they’re the things that keep you alive.

On her mission, Khayal is joined by Ibrahim, who speaks in riddles; Yasmin who knows where all the bodies are buried; Anya, the angry humanitarian; the orphaned teenager Mohammed; Huzzaq, her handler, who is either an evil mastermind or redeemer; and Ibrahim’s grandson Nur, who is her namesake, and the target who infiltrates her dreams. Unbeknownst to Khayal, they are all indelibly bound by the same man and the same decades-old secrets.

This second novel by award-nominated writer Cristel Orrand is an action-driven, fast-paced adventure through the Holy Land, through darkness and light, and the hefty gulf between legality and morality. Khayal is a kind of women's literary spy fiction and a tale of the indomitable human spirit, love and friendship.