Hesh Kestin was, for two decades, a for­eign cor­re­spon­dent report­ing from Europe, the Mid­dle East and Africa on war, inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty, ter­ror­ism, arms deal­ing, espi­onage, and often, equal­ly shad­owy glob­al busi­ness. For­mer­ly the Lon­don-based Euro­pean cor­re­spon­dent for Forbes, he is a vet­er­an of the Israel Defense Forces. Kestin’s books include Based on a True Sto­ry, a col­lec­tion of three novel­las set in Kenya, Poly­ne­sia, and Hol­ly­wood on the eve of World War II; The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats, a nov­el of the six­ties under­world in New York; and The Lie, a seri­ous nov­el dis­guised as a thriller, set in present-day Israel, which deals with the emo­tion­al costs of nev­er-end­ing war.