The Schoolyard Bet

''You come from a family of terrorists.''A malicious, low blowThat one schoolyard taunt propels Afzal, an impulsive sixteen-year-old in Shimla, to do something big enough to clear his family's reputation.He concocts a hare-brained scheme to sneak into Pakistan, capture the dreaded terrorist Latif and drag him back to face justice in India.Since teenage recklessness loves company, Afzal's best friends, smart-ass Beena and goofy-ass Rupinder, are roped into his quarter-baked plan.The three slip across the border into Pakistan, but before they can say 'Oh, shit!', intelligence agents, terrorists and drug dealers are hot on their tails-armed to the teeth and baying for blood.What do they do?Abandon the mission, surrender and force the Indian government to barter their lives for a dozen imprisoned terrorists, Latif's psycho companions?Or continue with their quest ... but risk certain death?About the AuthorManu is a start-up tech executive with a passion to solve the global water crisis. He lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is his debut novel.All author proceeds will go towards solving the water crisis via the JalTara Save Groundwater Foundation (savegroundwater.org).