Fantastic historical novel with a thriller component. I learned more about the dynamics in the middle east than I ever learned in school. Well-written and fast paced. ( )

David Wolfe se encuentra en el mejor momento de su vida: es un exitoso abogado de San Francisco, está a punto de casarse y se prepara para presentarse al Congreso. Sin embargo, cuando suena el teléfono y escucha la voz de Hana Arif (la mujer palestina con la que tuvo una aventura secreta en su época de estudiante universitario) pidiéndole ayuda, toda su situación da un giro de ciento ochenta grados. Al día siguiente, dos terroristas suicidas asesinan al primer ministro de Israel mientras éste visitaba San Francisco; poco después, acusan a la propia Hana de ser el cerebro del atentado. Para resolver el caso más complicado y polémico de su carrera, David se verá obligado a sumergirse en las vidas de Hana Arif y su marido, un militante de la causa palestina, y a cuestionarse todo aquello en lo que siempre ha creído.

I nearly always enjoy Richard North Patterson's books; the story is always good and the background interesting. In this case the former is true but the latter dominates. The story puts us all right in the middle of the Palestine-Israel argument and sets out in detail and, I think, fairly, the arguments on both sides. The sad thing is that it left me with the impression that the problem in insoluble and that even if a possible solution were to emerge, there are two many people with a vested interest in killing it off, both literally and figuratively [although I know understand these mean the same thing?]. Apart from the geo-political background being so well drawn, the legal aspects of this thriller are also fascinating. Both of these factors help to overcome the rather soapy nature of the main plot. This is well worth reading. ( )

Engaged to be married and poised to run for the senate, David Wolfe's life is turned inside out when ex-lover and "the one that got away" Hana Arif asks him to defend her in a trial in which she is accused of leading a conspiracy to murder Israeli leader Amos Ben-Aron on American soil. His friends and colleagues are outraged and his fiance doesn't understand how he, as a Jewish man, can even think of defending the Palestinian woman charged with their family friend's murder, regardless of whether he believes in her innocence.

David was not immersed in Jewish culture growing up and doesn't understand the all-consuming attachment many people have to their cultural identities. Researching the case, he travels to Israel and gets a "total immersion" lesson in Israeli-Palestinian history.

As with his other novels, this story is so detailed with actual facts and discussions about real life legal and political dilemmas, that it almost doesn't seem like fiction. I have to admit that I had to replay some of the scenes when David was overseas because I got characters and historical events confused. Both sides are so passionate and articulately portray their wounds and desperation. Although it was good, this was my least favorite of the Patterson books I've read so far. ( )

After the death of the Israeli Prime Minister on a visit to L.A., a Palistinian female is accused as the handler(the one who makes the arrangements). She asks David, the Jewish lawyer who she had an affair with when she was at Harvard, to defend her. He does, losing his fiancee, but ultimately discovers that he is the father of Hana's daughter. Many deaths, but creates an interesting picture of the Israel/Palestine Question. ( )