The Phoenix [Paperback]

NAME:Aryaman Khanna.

PROFILE:Ex-intelligence officer, Phoenix 5 division, Intelligence and Research Wing.

STATUS:Released from a high-security prison in Lakshadweep after serving a seven-year sentence for a botched counterterrorism operation led by Director General Amarjyot Bhushan.

KNOWN FAMILY:A mother, a son and a wife, who was attacked before she could publish an exposé about a bioweapon in her newspaper.

CURRENT LOCATION:Last seen heading to Mumbai in pursuit of his wife's attackers and on a top-secret comeback mission.

MISSION:Foil the bioweapon strike an international terror group has been planning to carry out in Mumbai on the anniversary of 26/11.

The Phoenixtells a dystopian tale of espionage and global terror, of sleeper cells and double agents, of biological warfare and suicide attacks. But at its heart there's a message of hope and one man's love for his family and country.

Bilal Siddiqi is a novelist and screenwriter based in Mumbai. He is the author ofThe Stardust Affair, The Kiss of Life(co-written with actor Emraan Hashmi) andThe Bard of Blood, a spy novel which he wrote when he was nineteen and which was adapted by Red Chillies Entertainment into a Netflix show. Siddiqi was also the creator of this show and worked on the screenplay.The Phoenixis his fourth book.