Omar Yussef, teacher-turned-detective, is sent to the troubled Gaza Strip to carry out a routine school inspection. There, he learns that a fellow teacher has been arrested, and, instinctively recognizing the signs of grave injustice, he sets out to investigate. The person responsible for the teacher's arrest is Colonel al-Fara, the most powerful - and dangerous - man in Gaza, and Omar's friends urge him not to intervene. But Omar confronts the colonel, and soon finds himself caught in a ruthless power struggle. When Omar's colleague is kidnapped and another is murdered, he begins to understand why people tell him that, in lawless Gaza, all crimes are connected. Omar is faced with the terrible realisation that only he can save his colleague - and himself.
Author Biography
Matt Rees was born and raised in South Wales. He has covered the Middle East as a journalist for a decade, including six years as Time magazine's Jerusalem bureau chief. He is author of the non-fiction work Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East. Atlantic Books published The Bethlehem Murders in 2007. Matt Rees's website is: www.mattbeynonrees.com.
