Description

In this compelling and timely thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright, a Palestinian-American FBI agent forms a strained alliance with a tough Israeli policeman to solve the murder of the Israeli police chief in Gaza. Wright, renowned for his acclaimed books The Looming Tower and The End of October, presents a vivid and deeply insightful story that navigates a landscape shaped by decades of distrust, conflict, and betrayal.

Tony Malik, a New York-based FBI agent who is half-Irish and half-Arab, specializes in tracking illicit financial networks associated with drugs and arms. Facing professional uncertainty and personal turmoil after a painful breakup, Malik finds himself increasingly drawn toward the mysterious past of his Palestinian father. Accepting a minor FBI task while attending his niece’s wedding in the West Bank, Malik anticipates a straightforward assignment. Instead, his arrival coincides with a shocking murder: the Israeli police chief stationed in Gaza is gunned down, plunging Malik immediately into suspicion and turmoil.

Initially considered a suspect, Malik soon proves his investigative skills and earns a role in the official Israeli inquiry. Central to the narrative is Malik’s uneasy partnership with Yossi, a fiercely anti-Arab Israeli officer determined to uncover the truth at any cost. Forced to rely on each other, the men gradually realize that their only hope lies in mutual trust, as dangers loom from all directions and no one else can be trusted—neither fellow officers nor local communities.

Wright skillfully populates the novel with vivid characters whose lives intersect in dramatic ways, including Yossi’s daughter pursuing studies abroad in Paris, Malik’s niece whose joyous occasion is torn apart by violence, her idealistic fiancé whose peaceful activism masks ties to Hamas, and an intricate assortment of corrupt police, religious leaders, and militants entrenched within Israeli and Palestinian society. All of them play essential roles in a narrative drawn with careful attention to personal and political complexity.

This intricately assembled drama culminates dramatically in the devastating Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, profoundly shaping the destinies of all involved. More than simply a thriller, Wright’s novel delves into the intricate layers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, examining the tragic human costs and complex historical roots of a struggle that continues to reverberate globally. Richly detailed and deeply human, this thriller confronts urgent themes of trust, identity, and betrayal in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine.