Vicious Circle: A Novel of Mutual Distrust » (Bargain)

Since he began publishing spy fiction in 1973, Robert Littell has evolved into one of the most consistently interesting espionage novelists of the modern era. We asked the author to share some of his experiences -- and his favorite books -- with us.

An Israeli government minister is assassinated in the home of his mistress. Days later, Elihu, an aging and decorated Mossad officer, leads his final raid, killing a Hamas leader in his bed -- and barely escaping with his life.

Out of this familiarly cyclical scenario emerges what is perhaps Robert Littell's most heartfelt and suspenseful novel. The action moves forward into the near future, when the global community, united under the leadership of a visionary woman president of the United States, brokers a major compromise between Israel and the Palestinian authority in the hopes of snuffing out the violent flash-point that fuels the flames of global terrorism.

But then, Isaac Apflbaum, a well-known fundamentalist Rabbi, is taken hostage by Dr. al-Saath, a legendary Palestinian terrorist, who demands the release of several Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his prisoner. As Israel coaxes Elihu out of retirement to hunt down the terrorist who motivated his final mission, al-Saath and Apflbaum find themselves building an extraordinary relationship between hostage taker and hostage: parallels between these two battle-hardened partisans become the bonds that could lead to reconciliation. But with the Mossad strike team closing in, has the vicious circle already been closed?

Ferociously suspenseful and brilliantly topical, Vicious Circle is a thriller that, like The Company before it, breaks down an entire culture of violence into the corrupted consciences that embody it.

The Washington Post - Kevin Allman

Setting an espionage thriller in the Middle East is tricky. During the months between the editing and the publishing of Robert Littell's latest suspense novel, the Hamas party won the majority of seats on the Palestinian legislative council, and the open conflict that some of the characters in Vicious Circle seek to prevent is now unfolding on CNN and al-Jazeera. None of this, though, dilutes Littell's central thesis (or spoils his muscularly plotted suspense). In his speculative game of three-dimensional chess, the pieces may not reflect recent history, but it's a game that never reaches checkmate.