Do journalists have reason to be scared? A new political thriller creates a world in which top Democrats, the State Department and the CIA plot to kill foreign journalists tarring the image of America.

 "If Words Could Kill," written by former National Security Agency liaison officer Ron Lawruk, focuses on government efforts to improve the United States' image abroad, especially in Russia. The primary strategy? Knocking off reporters who investigate and publish damaging news about the United States.

 "I lived in Washington for three years and worked at the NSA, and I thought: What would happen if that sort of thing happened to the media people, since they always find that they're under the gun from politicians and other sources," Lawruk told POLITICO. In "If Words Could Kill," the U.S. government is, according to Lawruk, "worried about the fact that their international esteem was losing face around the world.”

 He assures us that this is "strictly fiction" and doesn't have some sort of subtle or foreshadowing message.

 "Some of my best friends are from the media!" he said.

 Still, Lawruk has been prescient in the past. He noted that one of his previous books, written in 1988, discussed a "a terrorist attack on the United States."

 "People didn't want to believe it," said Lawruk, adding that he had a hard time finding a publisher. "But when 2001 came around, all I was told by my friends was, 'Oh, my God ...'"

 As for U.S. reporters in "If Words Could Kill," they actually help save the day: Once the U.S. government begins pondering some tough tactics with a reporter from The Washington Times, its efforts begin to unravel.