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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 14 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Fascinating and engaging Sep 24, 2008
By Lauren Nelson
What a page turner! The plot is thought out amazingly well, building with suspense and intrigue as you get further into the story. The dialogue is clever and the characters are very well-rounded. The Middle East is a very foreign place for most of us, but Tanya Parker Mills has helped to paint a picture of it that offers a substantial, humanistic perspective for the reader. Bravo!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
My housework had to wait! Sep 26, 2008
By Jane Alane
"reader friend"
What began as a favor between friends, ended easily as I was drawn into this story. Told with amazing ease through the political and regional settings in pre-war Iraq, the author personalizes this charachter for all. The suspense is expected within this time as she recalls real events and fits the plot around them. I found the "epileptic episodes" fascinating and a great way to draw upon the females memories of her childhood.
While reminding myself of the book being fiction, the reality of the methods of torture were a sobering reminder of the brutality of this war. The author handled them in a careful but factual manner.
But setting those details aside, I appreciated the lead charachters strong personality and loved her thought processes that kept her going.
Lastly, I enjoyed the charachters love story with the unexpected twist at the end. GREAT BOOK!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A Great Drama and Love Story that just happens to take place in Iraq. Jan 18, 2009
By D. couch
This was a great read on multiple levels. Besides being a great drama and touching love story, it also painted a creative picture of what it might feel like to live in a totalitarian state. I loved the history of Iraq that appeared to be based on fact. How did Iraquis live before Saddam? What was it like for Americans in Iraq during Saddam's rule? How did Iraquis feel knowing that the United States was going to start bombing any day? This book gives you some insight into these questions. The love story is excellent by itself - a forbidden love, impossible circumstances, and unimagineable secrets. I enjoyed the clever way Mills introduced flashbacks into the story, and how they were revealed at just the right moment. The last several chapters were consuming, and I had to read way past my bedtime to finish. As avid a reader as you may be, you will never guess the surprise ending. I look forward to Mills next book. Her writing and stotytelling skills will lend themselves to many future works.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 "America will win though the cost will be higher than they expect." Nov 03, 2008
By Luan Gaines
"luansos"
When American journalist Theresa Fuller and her cameraman, Peter Cranston, a Canadian, are taken prisoner in Iraq in 2002, they have no official papers to give the authorities. Fuller wanted only to slip across the border into Iraq with her cameraman and Kurdish guides, get her story and return before anyone notices she has gone. Unfortunately, her party is caught and arrested, the men deposited in Abu Ghraib and Theresa in solitary confinement. Pre-Iraq War, Saddam's paranoia has spread throughout the military, none more so than the secret police, the Mukhabarat. It is immediately assumed that Fuller is a spy; all that remains is to force her to divulge information that will prove the facts. Peter and the pesh merga guides are progressively tortured for information about Fuller's recent activities and her past.
The torture is methodical inside the prison, Peter agonizing over Theresa's fate. Unfortunately for the journalist, she has caught the attention of Colonel Badr, a Saddam loyalist determined to uncover the secrets of Theresa's past that even she cannot remember. Indeed, her father was imprisoned as a spy when she was a child, although much of the past is buried in her subconscious. Resourceful in the face of daunting odds, Theresa draws solace from an unsuspected quarter, one of her interrogators, Captain Tariq al-Alwali. She is correct in assuming Tariq is sympathetic. Indeed, he is trapped in a career not of his making, protecting his mother and grandfather from the government as Colonel Badr's protégé.
The capture of the journalist, her cameraman and their guides is harrowing, a brief glimpse into the horrors of a country ruled by a despot in spite of the hopes of the Iraqi people before Saddam's rise to power. All of the captives endure impossible conditions as war with America looms, Theresa gradually recalling the repressed memories of her youth. While Tariq attempts to safeguard her from Badr's worst abuses, the unfolding facts reveal Theresa's troubled youth, her father's imprisonment and the familial connections that create terrible danger for another family. Through Fuller's incredible journey, the author reveals the history of a troubled country trapped in the manic aspirations of a despot and his minions, the innocent victims of his regime and the excessive violence perpetrated on Saddam's behalf.
Readily conversant with the territory of repression and the geography of the Middle East, the author draws from her own history in crafting a tale of a country unable to break free from a dictator, the rich culture blurred by Saddam's many excesses and need to confront history. Through the haze of her imprisonment, Fuller must make peace with her memories, trusting her instincts and Tariq to deliver her. War hovers on the horizon while Theresa and Tariq evade the wrath of Colonel Badr, a testament to courage in a world gone mad. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Transformative Oct 14, 2008
By Olde England Lover
"Josephine"
This story was much more graphically intense than my typical fare. It is not for the faint of heart or tender of spirit; however, the reader will be well compensated for the journey. The story is set just prior to the 2002 invasion of Iraq, and explains in excruciating detail the torture and horror used by Saddam Hussein's regime to control his people. The protagonist, Theresa Fuller, is an American journalist who finds herself at the mercy of this brutal regime. The author does an incredible job describing the gradual transformation of this woman, and somehow in doing so she takes the reader on a similar journey. One cannot help but be stunned into seeing everyday life through different eyes after reading this book.
The author is obviously very familiar with the culture, geography, langauage, factions, and customs of this part of the world. She interspersed a great deal of information easily throughout the storyline; for example, when Theresa was stung by a sandfly, the reader learns about this insect, the boil it can produce, and the remedies available for treatment, all without interfering with the storyline. The author provides this education unobstrusively about many subjects throughout the book.
On a personal note, I took great pleasure in the portrayal of the American military, and their role in interrupting an evil government and the strangle-hold they had over their people. I felt gratified that our leaders invaded Iraq in 2002, WMD or not. After reading this book, I believe that doing so saved many more lives than it took, and improved the quality of life for millions. And, it is nice to see our military portrayed as the heroes that they are.
So, five stars for a compelling read with wonderful twists, a powerfully transformative theme, and a satisfying ending.
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