I have become a fan of Richard North Patterson, and this is a truly riveting and compelling read ~ it's the complicated story of David Wolfe, an American lawyer who happens to be Jewish, and Hana Arif, the woman with whom he shared a love affair in law school who happens to be Palestinian ~ following graduation, Hana returns to the West Bank and David builds a successful career ~ one day, years later, Hana calls David when she is visiting San Francisco with her Palestinian husband and daughter ~ and the following day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco ~ doesn't take long for Hana to be accused as the mastermind of the assassination, and she asks David to represent her ~ it's an agonizing decision for David, for many different reasons ~ his final decision is "yes", and his defense includes deep due diligence in Israel and the West Bank ~ the following trial scenes are explosive ~

The story unfolds telling BOTH the Israeli/Jewish and Palestinian perspectives and fully exposes "the cause and effect of violence" ~ Patterson explains the extensive research he did for this novel ~ and why ~ in his "author's acknowledgments", Patterson says "I have no doubt that many readers will find something in this novel to dislike.  Indeed, some partisans on both sides are so committed to their own narrative that they are grossly offended by any deviation.  But I believe that acknowledging each other's perspectives is essential to coexistence. ..."

I highly recommend this book ~

Sooz