"... a provocative and powerful new novel,
The Last Moderate Muslim."
Charlotte View.The sole survivor of the Black Saturday massacre, young Ziad vows vengeance against the Christian perpetrators in Lebanon's civil war. But when the vigilante Othman orders Ziad to murder innocent Christian students, he cannot shoot. His younger brother, Nabil, does and elevates himself to the ranks of jihadists. Upon his return home, Ziad's father beats him for his cowardice and celebrates Nabil for his heroism.Ziad falls in love with Sophia, a Westernized Christian whose family plans to emigrate to America. Fundamentalist Sharia enforcers drag Ziad and Sophia from his car and chop off their hair. As wartime Beirut devolves into a hell where feral dogs feed on corpses in the streets, Ziad vows to follow his traumatized girlfriend to the US. Many thousands apply for the American visa, but precious few are granted. Will the American gatekeepers admit Ziad to the States, or is he doomed to the violent insanity of the Arab world?