In His Own Image

American security officer Nicholas Haden is facing the most important assignment of his career. He must protect his boss Renée Thomas on a journey from Nairobi, Kenya into the heart of Al-Shabaab territory in Somalia in order to open a controversial youth center designed to de-radicalize former Islamic militants. A center, he does not believe in. But the success or failure of this model rehabilitation center may mean the difference between future peace and protracted civil war in Somalia.

For very different motives, both Kenyan counter-intelligence authorities and Al-Shabaab militants will stop at nothing to see that the center fails. In an effort to coerce Haden into sabotaging Renée’s trip, these opposing forces threaten the safety of Haden’s wife and young son living in Nairobi.

Amid the chaos of Kenyan intelligence and Somali militants, Haden begins to develop feelings of intimacy for his boss. Alcoholism, infidelity, and professional disgrace threaten to rip the fabric of his life to shreds. And Haden realizes that the ability to protect either his boss or his own family is rapidly slipping out of his control.

Set in Al-Shabaab-infested Kenya and Somalia, In His Own Image is a fast paced thriller that tests the boundaries of human courage, loyalty, and integrity. Both Haden and Thomas must separately challenge their own skewed convictions of sex, family, and honor. To endure this ordeal, they will have to commit acts every bit as heinous as those of their enemies. And neither will survive with their humanity intact.