Michael G Casey

Proving Ground Michael G Casey

Writer and TV celebrity Robert Lynskey is part of the Manhattan skyline. Despite his obvious success, he begins to doubt himself. His partner, Sarah, tries to dispel these doubts and convince him that he has earned his success. She is aware that the producer of Lynskey's TV show is also attracted to her, and she tries to keep him at bay. Khaled Hassan, a Palestinian, is on his way to New York to free his mentor from Guantánamo Bay. To set up a hostage exchange, he and his associates kidnap Lynskey - a soft target with a high profile. They demand that his TV Network broadcast a series of propaganda tapes. The CIA, FBI and Homeland Security become involved. Following 9 / 11 there is no question of negotiating with terrorists. There is a strong suspicion that Lynskey might be collaborating with the terrorists, especially when it is discovered that Hassan had been a student of his in Columbia in the late nineties. Motivated by ratings, the network broadcasts the tapes, breaching the Patriot Act. Public reaction is hostile. As the network's ratings rise, Lynskey's chances of survival fall. Sarah worries that he will be killed by his abductors, and she works with the security agencies to find out where he is being held. In captivity, Lynskey has time to review his life. He is intrigued by Hassan, who must know that the pro-Israel Administration will never free his mentor from Guantánamo Bay. What then is the real agenda? As events move to an unexpected conclusion Lynskey finds himself in possession of the final tape which contains explosive footage that would undermine America's role in the world. The security agencies learn of its existence and Lynskey's problems really begin. With his personal life in crisis, is he in a fit mental state to bear the enormous responsibility that has been thrust upon him? "A byword for success, Robert Lynskey is lost in the ease of his own intellectual victories. Everything he has struggled for, and achieved, now undermines its own driving logic. Potential escape arrives in the form of mortal danger. Brilliantly constructed and fluidly told, the core dilemma is very real."
-Peter FitzGerald