Editorial Content for The Human Scale
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Anthony Malik was considered fortunate, having survived the blast of a terrorist bomb that killed other law enforcement officials in Amman, Jordan. However, the grievous wounds inflicted on him, including the loss of an eye and traumatic brain injury, speak of a far bleaker fate.
Malik arrives back stateside with both physical and psychological wounds, his girlfriend soon abandons him, and his FBI career is in doubt. He is desperate to stay in the fold, and when an opportunity arises for him to be useful, his contacts in the intelligence world opt to utilize him.
"This is a substantive book featuring impactful characters, evocative dialogue and vivid imagery that will linger in readers’ minds long after they have turned the last page."
Hebron is a Palestinian city located in the West Bank, an area that has been fought over for nearly a century. Jacob Weingarten is a former soldier in the Israeli Defense Force and later police chief. He views the ongoing tensions concerning the ownership of the West Bank with a weariness, as he thinks compromise is long overdue. He doesn’t trust everyone in the police department as many admire the incendiary rhetoric of a fundamentalist rabbi. Jacob also has concerns about his second-in-command, Yossi Ben-Gal, who was known for his zeal in carrying out his duties.
The tension in Hebron steadily has been increasing as settlers have been taking Palestinian land by force. When the Palestinians fight back, the situation turns deadly, often with little intervention by law enforcement. The unease threatens to get worse when it is learned that Weingarten was kidnapped and executed by a terrorist group. Yossi needs to find answers, and quickly, as retaliation is already being planned against the perceived perpetrators and their allies.
Malik went to Hebron to attend a family wedding and is soon being pursued as a cop-killing terrorist. Upon his initial meeting with Yossi, he is viewed with skepticism, if not outright distrust. Malik is able to verify his law enforcement credentials and informs Yossi that he was meeting with Weingarten to obtain information. Despite an awkward introduction, Malik and Yossi are soon working together to find out what Weingarten was investigating and locate his assailants. Meanwhile, the West Bank continues to witness further acts of violence that threaten to snowball into all-out war.
THE HUMAN SCALE is a powerful and affecting narrative about a war without end that continues to exact a heavy toll on the Palestinian and Israeli populations. Lawrence Wright (THE END OF OCTOBER) is adept at writing compelling historical narratives, but his fictional endeavors often prove just as good, if not better. He approaches the controversial subject matter with a balanced approach, as the heated conflict is viewed through the eyes of Israelis, Palestinians, radicals and moderates. Malik carries scars that will not heal, and he arrives in Hebron with friends and foes questioning his beliefs and allegiances. He is an outsider looking in at the divided territory and is angered by the violence committed in the name of staking a claim.
This is a substantive book featuring impactful characters, evocative dialogue and vivid imagery that will linger in readers’ minds long after they have turned the last page.
Teaser
Tony Malik, a half-Irish, half-Arab FBI agent based in New York, specializes in tracking money from drug and arms deals. His life takes a dramatic turn when a long-term relationship ends and his job hangs in the balance. Amid personal turmoil, Malik becomes intrigued by his Palestinian father's past. He decides to visit his ancestral homeland for his niece's wedding, accepting a seemingly simple FBI assignment along the way. Upon arrival in Gaza, Malik's world is upended when the Israeli police chief is murdered. Initially a suspect, Malik's investigative prowess soon earns him a place in the Israeli investigation. At the heart of the story is Malik's complex relationship with Yossi, the hardline anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the case.
Promo
Tony Malik, a half-Irish, half-Arab FBI agent based in New York, specializes in tracking money from drug and arms deals. His life takes a dramatic turn when a long-term relationship ends and his job hangs in the balance. Amid personal turmoil, Malik becomes intrigued by his Palestinian father's past. He decides to visit his ancestral homeland for his niece's wedding, accepting a seemingly simple FBI assignment along the way. Upon arrival in Gaza, Malik's world is upended when the Israeli police chief is murdered. Initially a suspect, Malik's investigative prowess soon earns him a place in the Israeli investigation. At the heart of the story is Malik's complex relationship with Yossi, the hardline anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the case.
About the Book
In this sweeping, timely thriller, a Palestinian American FBI agent teams up with a hardline Israeli cop to solve the murder of the Israeli police chief in Gaza --- from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE LOOMING TOWER and THE END OF OCTOBER.
Tony Malik is a half-Irish, half-Arab New York-based FBI agent, specializing in money flowing from drug and arms deals. The novel opens in shocking fashion, and Malik’s life changes radically. A long-term relationship ends, and his job is on the verge of being taken away from him. During this period, he learns more about his roots and becomes interested in his father's past and family --- his father came to America years ago from Palestine. Malik decides to make a trip to his father's homeland to attend the wedding of his niece, whom he has never met. As a result of his plans, he is given a simple assignment by his boss at the FBI, partly to see how well he can still do his job. That simple assignment becomes anything but simple.
As soon as he arrives in Gaza, the Israeli police chief overseeing the area is murdered. Malik is at first a suspect. Then, due to his superior investigative skills, he is invited into the Israeli investigation, seeking the murderer. At the core of this novel is Malik's relationship with Yossi, the hard-line anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the investigation. They must learn to trust each other because, as they move closer to solving the case, they realize there is no one else they can trust on either side.
Extraordinary three-dimensional characters populate this novel: Yossi's daughter, studying in Paris, trying to escape the violence that surrounds her in Israel; Malik's niece, whose wedding and life are shattered by the murder; her fiancé, a peacenik whose existence is complicated by the fact that his cousin is high up in the Hamas command; religious leaders on both sides; corrupt Israeli cops; Palestinians thirsting for violence against Israel; Israelis determined to crush the Palestinians.
Lawrence Wright brings a wide and complicated tapestry to life, one that culminates on October 7, 2023, with the deadly Hamas attack on Israel. But he has written more than just a thriller, or even just an examination of all these complicated lives. He has written a novel that manages to explore and explain much of the devastating history that encompasses the relationship between Israel and Palestine --- and shows it to us in a way that poignantly reveals the tragic human scale that is involved.
Audiobook available, read by Peter Ganim
