Hero Bountiful

It happened in the twentieth century . A landmark for freedom. It had historic implications. Afghanistan in the late 1970s, an impoverished, Muslim country overrun by Russian invaders from the communist and expansionist USSR, a backward nation struggling valiantly for survival. It became a David and Goliath tale. It was a powerful military empire, with a nuclear arsenal, paired against bands of guerilla fighters waging war using medieval principles of combat. warfare. The western democracies, particularly American, swung into action, mobilizing spy networks and CIA backed operatives in covert operations to stop the Russians. One of the most effective of these operatives would rise from obscurity to save the day.

He was no suave, James Bond type, no, not at all. This unusual agent known by many names primarily as Hajji Nati began life as the nerdy Ira Nettleman from the semi-suburban hamlet of Forest Hills, Queens. A small, timid boy, not adventurous. Ira Nettleman was your ordinary, garden variety schnook who had that combination of qualities you can only get by crossing Woody Allen with a tame puppy crossed with an incompetent accountant, crossed with a fortune teller without customers. A schnook, definitely, but with an acute ability to transform into others, mimic their languages, and behaviors. It is no surprise that the Central Intelligence Agency came calling, and, that the same fumbling, bumbling goofball turned into an hilarious heroic figure who trashes the villains of international terrorism. One after another, the bad guys fall before Ira's Jell-O-like stature.

This is an incredible, comic tale with serious overtones. It wraps a series of characters and stories into a main narrative that will make you smile and may even educate.