VICIOUS CIRCLE

?A searing, thrilling, intelligent and often blackly funny book . . . [by] the finest American writer of espionage fiction? (John Connolly, #1 internationally-bestselling author of Woman in the Woods).   Under the leadership of a visionary woman president of the United States, the global community 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 Apfulbaum, 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 captive.   As Israel coaxes Elihu?a former Mossad officer?out of retirement to hunt down the terrorist who motivated his final mission, al-Saath and Apfulbaum 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 the Mossad strike team is closing in . . .   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.   ?Muscularly plotted suspense.? ?The Washington Post   ?A tale to hold its own with . . . John le Carré?s The Little Drummer Girl . . . and Robert Stone?s Damascus Gate.? ?Booklist (starred review)   ?[A] suspenseful and serious thriller.? ?Kirkus Reviews (starred review)