A Grave in Gaza (Omar Yussef Series #2) »

Matt Beynon Rees is the former Jerusalem bureau chief for Time. His Omar Yussef mysteries include The Collaborator of Bethlehem (winner of the Crime Writers' Association New Blood Dagger Award) and A Grave in Gaza. He is also the author of the nonfiction work Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East. Born in Wales, he lives in Jerusalem and maintains a website at www.mattbeynonrees.com.

In Gaza, death lurks around every corner.

Publishers Weekly

palestinian history teacher Omar Yussef travels from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, where he becomes immersed in local violence and politics, in this over-the-top sequel to Rees's The Collaborator of Bethlehem (2007). Omar Yussef is a modest figure, quiet and middle-aged. When a U.N. official asks him to speak to a kidnapped schoolteacher's wife, he soon finds himself in the midst of international intrigue, dealing missiles over dinner, shouting down police officers and militants armed with machine guns and rescuing someone from a smuggling tunnel. These incidents seem a bit extreme for an aging academic, though his charm and calm demeanor are almost enough to convince the reader. The zany plot is interesting despite its implausibility, and the richly detailed descriptions, complete with deliberately brutal details of torture and death, emphasize Omar Yussef's peril and the violent tumult of the Middle East. (Feb.)