The Power of the Tongue: NaNoWriMo synopsis

This is my submission for the NaNoWriMo Submission writing contest. If you like it, your “recommend” would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Jake Vinson has a pristine reputation as a journalist. For more than twenty years he has worked doggedly to tell the stories behind the stories. To expose corruption. To tell the truth. To protect those who can’t protect themselves.

Now he’s working on his biggest assignment yet — an in-depth profile on a frightening new terrorist organization wreaking havoc in the Middle East with an efficient and shocking brutality that has never been seen before. But it’s a dangerous game, and as he begins to build a network of contacts, moving closer and closer to the elusive group, he is captured and threatened with execution.

Thinking quickly and pointing to his sterling reputation for fairness as a reporter, Jake talks his captors into sparing his life with this pitch: Let me tell your story, the real story. Let me share the truth from your perspective. Let me tell the world what is happening to your people.

It’s a long shot, but to his surprise, his captors not only accept his proposal, they jump at it, eager to use him to get their message out to the West. Jake is stunned when he finds out what that message is: The organization claims it is only trying to protect its people, who have themselves been terrorized by the West. They want peace, and will lay down their arms as soon as the United States and her allies lay down theirs.

Thus Jake begins a journey of danger, intrigue and enlightenment as he puts his life on the line for a story that puts him at odds with his family, his government, and even those he is writing about.

He is shown things that open his eyes to the plight of the poor, Middle Eastern Muslim, sees good works being done by the locals to help each other and witnesses heartbreaking stories of death and loss at the hands of the U.S. military.

But Jake also sees the seedy underbelly of religion, the trampling of rights and the manipulation of minds by those in power. He eventually finds himself at odds with his own journalistic scruples as he is force-fed the message he is to portray.

Eventually, Jake is left with a choice: write the filtered message his captors demand, or write the full, honest story and risk having his own execution become the news.

What begins as a dangerous ploy to save his life becomes a unique chance for Jake to change the world. But will he manage to do either?

Will the truth set him free? Or will it bring about his doom?

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” — Proverbs, 18:21