Wilderness of Mirrors - What is it?

A phrase that refers to
the world of espionage where things are so complicated
with so many loops and tangles
that it becomes impossible to differentiate
disinformation from truth.

As you can see, this is a perfect name for my blog and really, my writing. Writing fiction is a fine-tuned craft of weaving fact with laces of fiction. Or is it vice versa? :-D
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"Shot Russian Intelligence Expert's Wife Challenges Robbery Reports" (Foxnews.com reported March 07, 2007)

Well. Are we surprised? I'm not--I mean, come on! A man whose job is Russian Intelligence is shot in his driveway by two men. Nothing is stolen or missing, despite rumors of earlier reports. Naturally, I can see how and why governments would want this kept quiet. Imagine hearing that two agents just took out your neighbor!!

Paul Joyal's wife is smart, though. She didn't come right out and say it's because of his job. She said, "We really have no idea what the reason was. It could easily have been a random act of violence." She did, however, admit it could also have been the result of his criticism of the Kremlin.

What do you think?

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"Russian Intelligence Expert Shot, Critically Injured, at Home Near Washington"

So reads the headline at Foxnews.com from Sunday, March 04, 2007, about Russian Intelligence expert, Paul Joyal. On the previous Sunday, Joyal, 53, was intereviewed on Dateline NBC and is quoted as saying:

"A message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin: If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you, and we will silence you--in the most horrible way possible."

Then, he's shot. In an apparently "random robbery and street shooting."

Do you believe that?

I don't. It's entirely too coincidental that a week after this man speaks out, he's nearly killed.

Want another interesting tidbit?

He was an acquaintance of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB and FSB colonel poisoned/murdered last year. Both were vocal critics of the Kremlin. Just like Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead in Moscow. Litvinenko had been investigating her murder at the time of his murder. Joyal incriminated the Kremlin over Litvinenko's murder at the time of his shooting.

Random robbery? I sincerely doubt it.
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I don't take pleasure in these tragedies. Lives are lost. However, it's awakening my mind, and hopefully I'm not the only one taking note of the world's events. But, the depth of all this is absolutely fascinating and intriguing for me as a novelist since I've just signed with top agent Steve Laube, who will pitch my spy novel, Midnight Zone, to CBA publishers. My story is about a former Russian double agent, Jirina Havlicek, and American Spy, Declan Burke.