This is a complex story told in different alternating timelines. You need to make sure you check the date before reading each chapter. A psychological thriller, you learn of Prisoner X, a man that is only known to be held captive by his guard, his mother, and the General who had put him in the cell. You see the prisoner and the guard taunting each other, but yet befriending each other. There is no one else to talk to, nor has there been for the last 14 years.
Ruthie is the General’s right hand. She has been with him, taking care of his every need for decades as he lay in a coma. She understands him better than the nurses and doctors that are watching over him now. She can sense that he is slipping away. But she is not family, and will not be allowed there at the end, regardless of her endless vigils at his bedside over the last years.
We are now in France, with a blown cover for a spy that is hoping to survive. He is not the best spy, admittedly, as he sees his own faults. But how will he escape to get home to his family?
As these three stories are unfolded, the simmering hate and quest for justice is at the heart of the story. Grudges are paid for before peace is considered. It is in this cycle that the core of the hatred in the Middle East will never end. Those that strive toward “justice” are on a fools errand if they don’t understand that revenge negates this. People on any side of the issue can be friendly and compassionate, but unless the view of “right” and “vengeance” becomes less rigid, how can there be hope? Even in the face of love and passion, this is an uncompromising truth. This compassion must be hidden from everyone, even themselves, because there is no tolerance in either community for any bending of the definitions.
The examination of the deeds that are “unforgivable” in the book are about someone trying to stop the unending cycle of this. The costs of stopping the pain from continuing are just as high, if not higher, than those that are perpetuating its longevity. Until either side is willing to compromise, there will be no peace, internally for these people, or within the world they live.
While I wish there was a hope or a will to put any human life above revenge, I am aware this is a foolish and naïve statement. While one person at a time has changed views, the widespread desire to keep the fires of hate burning do not leave me hopeful. This book underscores this very well.
The Source 4 Books 