Thirteenth Hour

An American-born woman biologist living in Jerusalem and an American-raised Muslim woman are recruited for a deadly, secret mission, finding themselves unlikely allies in a growing web of violence that threatens their families, heritage, and lives. Reprint.

There's a very interesting take on the Palestinian question in this intelligent and exciting new thriller by an Israeli journalist. When Deborah Stern, an American-born biologist working at a Jerusalem hospital, witnesses an act of terrorism and signs up for a self-defense course, she gets involved in a situation that brings her first into confrontation and then into unexpected alliance with Raba Alhassan, who has just returned from Detroit to live in Jericho with her Palestinian family. Casual details, such as "In Jerusalem, three ambulances always meant a catastrophe," add to the story's heart-wrenching realism.