Review
Gerald Seymour's latest novel,
The Walking Dead, is
reminiscent of a patchwork quilt. At first, you start with many dissimilar items
arrayed before you, with no idea how these unrelated bits can possibly be sewn
together into a final product. Eventually, however, after much time and effort and connecting this piece to that, you end up with a gratifying result. The "pieces" in
The Walking Dead are the array of seemingly unrelated characters and plot lines that Seymour ultimately crafts into a satisfying thriller.
The book's action takes place over 17 days, with each of the chapters
corresponding to a single day. The plot touches on what each of the principals
is doing during that time period. At first this is somewhat frustrating, as the
reader gets just a brief glimpse of one character before moving on to another -
a bit like trying to watch...
Beyond the Book
A Short History of al-Qaeda
The history of the Sunni-Muslim organization al-Qaeda ("The Base") can be traced
to the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Osama
bin Laden, a young, wealthy Islamic idealist from Saudi Arabia, felt compelled
to assist his fellow Muslims in their struggle against these "infidels." He
moved his factories to Afghanistan, and joined the resistance group
Maktab al-Khadamat
(MAK), led by
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam.
Together they organized a world-wide recruiting program which advertised for
young Muslims to fight against the Soviets. The Afghan government donated land
for training bases, while bin Laden paid for the volunteers' transportation,
facilities and training. He brought in experts from all over the...
