This is an alright book. Not brilliant by any
stretch of the imagination, but OK. Basic plot is a human rights lawyer is
tapped to be an independent reviewer of what the CIA in recent years has taken
to calling "Enhanced Interrogation", e.g. torture. The idea is that whenever
the Israeli police want to turn the thumbscrews, they have to run it by Dahlia
Barr, our heroine, first.
Of course as readers we can see what going to
happen a mile away, can't we? She'll start off opposing torture and then
something will happen to turn her world on it's head, a ticking time bomb-type
scenario, no doubt one that affects her personally, and she will be forced to
re-evaluate her outlook accordingly. That of course is exactly what happens and
it's not too long before our heroine is enthusiastically turning those
thumbscrews herself.
This is a short novel and as such the characters
appeared to me as little more than sketches. I never got a real sense of them
as people. So I found it hard to reconcile with Dahlia so easily jettisoning the
values she once held dear. This problem is exacerbated by the book's very real,
albeit subtle, though often not so subtle, politics. I read one review that
said the book avoids bias on the whole Middle Eastern conflict. Well that
reviewer was clearly reading a different novel. The book is full of little
barbs towards Arabs and how they live their lives. Israel is portrayed as a
plucky little state, which might have made the odd misstep but on the whole is
decent, while the Palestinians and the Israeli Arabs are a treacherous foe.
Sorry, but I have to give this novel two out of
five stars. Read it if you want a short book that wears its politics on its
shoulder (whole chapters at the end detailing and glorifying macho Israeli
commandos as they rescue a hostage and kill a bunch of Arab terrorists). Avoid
if you want something deeper.
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