The Lie: A Novel

A page-turner that will engage your mind and emotions in a way few novels do. The narrative is headlong, the issues have never been more current, and the characters come alive from the page. This is a story about the lies we tell until the truth is forced upon us, and about divided countries, including those of the human heart. I started reading; I ended up experiencing. The Lie is what great fiction is all about.

<i>The Lie</i> begins with an intriguing scenario: what if an outspoken human rights lawyer is co-opted by the Israeli Police to decide who gets tortured and who doesn't? That this scenario gets overwhelmed by the thriller plot is one of this novel's chief frustrations.<br /><br />Dahlia Barr is the lawyer in question, a firebrand defender of the many (mostly Arab) lost souls who end up in Israeli police dragnets, many because they're in the wrong place at the wrong time or have done something that looks suspicious, whether or not it really is. Barr's mother is a strident leftist activist; her soon-to-be ex-husband Dudik has gone the other way, becoming a wealthy corporate lawyer. Barr is recruited by Israel's national police force to be the person who reviews case files and determines whether a prisoner is eligible for "extraordinary means," a polite word for "torture." Despite some initial misgivings, she agrees, thinking she'll change the system from within. Of course, it turns out to not be that straightforward.<br /><br />Author Kestin, an Israeli native and longtime journalist, knows how to put together the body of a story. The settings are well-observed and atmospheric, full of the little details that show he's been there and done that. His depiction of the workings of Israel's security apparatus also rings with authenticity. The prose is tight and fast, a peppering of short chapters that switch between the various players to push the plot forward. I read this (admittedly slim) volume in just a few hours.<br /><br />That plot is a mixed blessing. It overlays Dahlia's dilemmas with a terrorist-attack thriller tale that clocks along briskly but isn't as exciting or engaging as it thinks it is. The mechanics are all there, but there's no heart to it, and it resolves itself much too easily and with a strange lack of tension. Daniel Silva did this kind of thing much better at the height of his Gabriel Allon series.<br /><br />The greatest disappointment, however, comes with the characters. Dahlia starts as a well-rounded person; she's not easy to like, which is fine, but she's interesting to watch at the beginning. However, she casts off her beliefs and ethics altogether too lightly, without even the level of reflection or hesitation that her circumstances would allow, and by the end we see very little of the qualities that had put her in her position to begin with. I can't tell whether this is the author making a political statement or simply not providing his heroine with a full character arc. It's vexing in either case.<br /><br />The other characters have similar faults. The villains are provided with little backstory or motivation. The primary baddie, Edward al-Masri, is basically a jerk. Dahlia's mother is a one-note screamer, her Arab "auntie" is nearly a saint, and her superiors in the police and security services end up being right about most everything. Her son Ari, around whom much of the thriller plot revolves, isn't fleshed out enough for us to really connect with him. Surprisingly, Dudik is perhaps the most sympathetic figure of the lot. It may very well be that in keeping his story confined in 230 pages, the author sacrificed the dimensionality that would have made this an excellent story rather than simply being serviceable.<br /><br />I wanted to like <i>The Lie</i> a lot more than I eventually did. The writing has many things going right, the premise was promising, and the atmosphere can't be beat. In the end, though, it becomes a middle-of-the-road Israelis-versus-terrorists saga without a lot to say that hasn't been said before (and, in some instances, said better). Sadly, a missed opportunity.<br /><br />

I purchased and read this book because Stephen King wrote a good review on it. Good writing but the subject wasn't my thing. It was hard for me to get into this book but it did have a good ending.

This was an emotional roller coaster! <br /><br />Excellent writing, excellent character building, and the depth of the story is incredible. On the surface, it's a thriller set in modern-day Israel and Lebanon as a team of commandos make a rescue attempt of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. It's also a much deeper moral morass of what actions, if any, should be taken to find the whereabouts of the soldiers, to what level the protagonists will stoop, and how it will impact the political will of the nation. There are no "good guys" here, just two races that have been at war for so long that they've forgotten why they are fighting or how it started in the first place.<br /><br />Highly recommended!

Human rights lawyer Dahlia Barr had represented Palestinians for a number of years; as a tough, no nonsense sort of person she found herself rather shocked to be offered the job of working with the Israeli Police Force – her position would be to approve torture within the government under certain circumstances.<br /><br />Mother to sons Ari and Uri, soon to be divorced from husband Dudik, the suddenness of the attack by Hezbollah soldiers on the border and the subsequent kidnapping of Ari as well as another young soldier had Dahlia finding out something about herself she wasn’t aware was inside…<br /><br />When professor and activist, Edward Al-Masri who had been arrested at the end of a flight from Canada was thought to have ties to Ari’s kidnapping, Dahlia knew she’d have to talk to him. But would Al-Masri talk to her? <br /><br />This political thriller is a fairly quick read with an intense plot and fast pace. There are a lot of characters to keep track of from terrorists to government officials, family members and soldiers. My favourite character was “auntie” who loved Dahlia and had been close to her own mother since birth. There was an extreme amount of racism within the story but there was also courage and violence. <br /><br />With thanks to Scribe Publications for my copy to read and review.<br />

<br />Once again a reading group steered me to a book I'd never heard about and am glad I read. <i>The Lie</i> is set in Israel and though it is standard fare as thrillers go, the author (a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces) gives readers a provocative look at today's issues.<br /> <br />Dahlia Barr, a tough attorney based in Jerusalem and known for defending Palestinians accused of terrorism, accepts recruitment into the Israeli security establishment. She believes she can change the system from within and do away with torture.<br /> <br />Then her 21 year old son, a soldier, is kidnapped by Hezbollah and the political becomes personal for Dahlia.<br /> <br />I have read David Grossman's <i>To The End Of The Land</i> and Amos Oz's <i>A Tale of Love and Darkness</i>, not to mention a great amount of historical fiction about war. It is the mothers who suffer most, at least from my point of view. <br /> <br />In this novel I found a mother who was in a position to do much more than wait at home in fear and grief but that very position put her straight into the most difficult conflict of her life. What a gripping story.

Each chapter averages roughly two pages, and "the lie" is revealed on the actual first page of the book. It features the same level of complexity about Israeli/Palestinian relations that you might get from reading American news for a week, and even fewer less-than-superficial character detail. There is no reason for <i>The Lie</i> to exist. I've enjoyed reading certain subreddits about the Middle East far more than I enjoyed this book.

<i>The Lie</i> is a fast-paced novel that questions the morality of both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on both the geopolitical and the very personal level.<br /><br />I found it very upsetting but, sadly, not surprising or shocking. The brevity of the book prevents it from examining the subject matter that deeply. Perhaps that's not a bad thing. Unless you've been living in a cave for the last however many years, you're unlikely to learn anything new from this book but it's a powerful piece nonetheless and worth a read.

This is one of the most racist books I have read. Perhaps not in the class of Mein Kampf or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but since it masquerades as detective fiction, one could argue that it is as dangerous. If the dialogue had been in the mouths of Klu Klux Klan members rather than Israeli's, the book never could have been published. It was an political diatribe, as well as an apologetic for the use of torture. Torture in real life does not supply information, it's about terror and power. If you torture me I'll tell you whatever you want to hear, it may or may not be the truth. <br /><br />The characters were one-dimensional. The plot twist at the end with switched babies stupid and predictable. It is NOT a book about the Israeli left, no matter what the author says. However, this book, obviously based on the author's experience in the Israeli, does give examples of propaganda in Israel today, provides insights into the mores of Israeli soldiers, and explains why the war with the Palestinians continues. There are better ways of giving that explanation than a book dripping with hate.

“The Lie” by Hesh Kestin, published by Scribner.<br /><br />Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – March 04, 2014<br /><br />“The Lie” is a story based on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, incorporating the legality and morality of the actions taken on both sides.<br /><br />Mohammed (Edward) Al-Masri is a respected professor in Canada traveling to Israel. He is confronted by Israeli customs and is found to be smuggling Euros into Israel. He is jailed and becomes a pawn for the Palestinian cause.<br /><br />Dahlia Barr is a prominent Israeli lawyer who has championed the cause of human rights, who becomes a pawn of the Israeli government when she takes on the job of deciding when extraordinary methods of interrogation can be used.<br /><br />Her oldest son is serving in the Army and is captured by a Palestinian raiding party. He is being tortured and held for the ransom of Al-Masri.<br /><br />A daring raid is made by the Israelis into Beirut to free Dahlia’s son. This proves to be a page turning, nail biting part of the book that demonstrates the kind of co-ordination necessary to pull off a clandestine operation.<br /><br />Dahlia’s mother, who is a member of the Citizens in Black, who are made up of both Israeli and Palestinians demonstrating for peace becomes a major player when she is the only match to provide a kidney for her grandson.<br /><br />The reader should be prepared for an unexpected and totally surprising to the end of the book when “The Lie” is revealed. <br />