This novel features two entities locked in mortal combat: the Mossad’s Caesarea section and Iran’s Quds forces. Each side is propelled by a demonic, deep-seated hatred of the enemy. For Arik Glitzman, that hatred is driven by the Iranian drone assassination of his best friend and his wife, six colleagues, and—most painfully—his five-year-old daughter. For Col. Ghobani, it stems from the Israeli killing of his father, brother, and comrades. The narrator, a Persian Jew named Kam, is recruited by Israel and later captured by the Iranians. Kam describes Israel’s brilliance at infiltrating Iran, capturing their enemies’ signal intelligence, assassinating scientists, and deceiving their people. The Iranians, in contrast, rely on brute force and cruelty. The Israelis claim the moral high ground by attempting to avoid collateral casualties—and they succeed here.
This is the fourth novel by this former CIA operative, and I believe it’s a notch below his previous three. Nonetheless, everything he writes is well crafted, insightful, and very realistic.
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