Life Imitating Art

A December 29, 2009, story published by NPR indicates that Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Associated Press. Diplomats said the assessment was heightening international concern about Tehran's nuclear activities.

My novel, The Lion and the Sun, includes a prologue that tells the story of an early attempt to determine whether Kazakhstan had stores of highly enriched uranium (HEU) at the time of the Soviet Union's fall. They did, and a secret project was executed to bring the HEU out of Kazakhstan and secure it in the US.