Sneak Peek Saturday: Borderline

Borderline

By: Allan Stratton

Pub date: March 9th, 2010

Life's not easy for Sami Sabiri since his dad stuck him in a private school where he is the only Muslim kid.  But it's about to get a lot worse. When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious...He's not the only one.  In a whirlwind, the FBI descends on his home, and Sami's family becomes the center of an international terrorist investigation.  Now Sami must fight to keep his world from unraveling. An explosive thriller ripped from today's headlines, Borderline is the story of a funny, gutsy Muslim-American teen determined to save his father, his family and his life.
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Chapter One

 

I’m next door in Andy’s driveway, shooting hoops with him and Marty. The holidays are over next week, and we’ve hardly been together at all. Andy was in summer school for math all July. After that, he and his family took Marty to their cottage on the Canadian side of the Thousand Islands.
 
They just got back yesterday.

I could have gone too, except for Dad. Other times he’s let me, but when he heard that Mr.   and Mrs. J. wouldn’t be there 24/7, he pulled the plug.

“You’re too young to handle the    responsibility,” he said. 

“What responsibility?” I demanded. “We’ll be swimming. Fishing. Dad, please.

  I’m almost sixteen.” 

“I’ve said what I’ve said.” 

 Yeah, and it’s totally not fair. I don’t do drugs. I hate booze. And that stuff with Mary Louise  Prescott happened over a year ago. 

 The worst was watching the videos Andy and Marty e-mailed of them hiking, swimming, and  cannonballing off the Johnsons’ dock. They even got to take the boat out on their own. “So,  Sammy, what are you doing?” they laughed as they hot-dogged through the islands.  

 But now they’re back and everything’s fantastic. 

 At least it was. Dad’s stepped onto our verandah. The day’s been a scorcher, but it seems  nobody’s told him. Even home, after dinner, it’s like he’s still at work, supervising the microbe researchers at the lab. His jacket’s off, but he’s wearing everything else: silk tie, dress shirt, pearl cuff links, and flannels.

 I tense as he stands by the railing, watching us play. I was doing great. Now I suck...
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This sounds like a very interesting novel. I really love the originality behind the premise. You can read the remainder of chapter one here. Visit Allan at his official website here.