The Trials of Zion

By Alan M. Dershowitz

Book Overview

"No one knows more about Israel's existential dilemma than Alan Dershowitz-or writes about it better. From its explosive beginning to its startling climax, The Trials of Zion excites and intrigues, even as it depicts the unique dangers of a lethal part of the world. This is a terrific novel." -- Richard North Patterson

"For a legalist, mired for years in towers of ivory not even hewn from the teeth of endangered elephants but constructed, indeed, and solely, of the casuistic and notional, Mr. Dershowitz writes a real good rip-snorter." -- David Mamet

"A thought-provoking thriller set in two of the world's most gripping arenas of conflict, the Middle East and the courtroom." -- Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought, and Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction

"As in all his essays, in his novel also, Alan Dershowitz demonstrates his great love for Israel as well as his inspired passion for Jewish memory, justice, and storytelling." -- Elie Wiesel

A shocking act of terror brings the Middle East to the point of explosion. As the resulting political conflict threatens to erupt, a young Jewish-American lawyer joins the defense team of an arrested but possibly innocent Palestinian. Soon the lawyer's father, a famed criminal attorney, must win the Palestinian's case or risk losing his daughter forever. To do so, he must take into account the tormented history of the Holy Land from every possible angle. The Trials of Zion combines the tension of the greatest courtroom dramas with the action of a fast-moving thriller, all set against the colorful backdrop of one of the most complex cultural settings in the world. Filled with memorable characters, this novel offers readers not only compelling suspense, but a panoramic view of the history of a beloved and bitterly contested land, and a sharply controversial perspective on the sources of--and the possible solutions to--the world's longest and most crucial international crisis.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446576735
• ISBN13: 9780446576734
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

superb Israeli legal thriller

In East Jerusalem in the near future, American President Moore, Israeli President Ezratti and Palestinian President Yassah reach a major peace agreement seen on television round the world. As they hold hands in unity, a bomb explodes killing thirty one people; many of whom were heads of state including Moore. The Martyrs of Jihad claim responsibly and Israeli police arrest Muslim radical Faisal Husseini caught videotaping the assassination scene. He is accused of the murders. Palestinian Human Rights lawyer Habash Ein asks his Yale friend, twenty-six years old Jewish attorney Emma Ringel to come to Israel to assist him in defense of Husseini. Over the objections and concerns of her father celebrity lawyer Abe, she accepts. Abe is forced to assist Emma as pressure mounts from all sides on her. Some even threaten the Ringel loved ones if the deliberation ends the wrong way. Complicating matters for daughter and father are those threatening them and others they cherish leave them to know if they obtain an acquittal or not, someone is apt to try to harm them or their loved ones. The third Ringel legal thriller (see Advocate's Devil Just Revenge) is a fabulous tale that enables the reader to see how different the Israeli jurisprudence system is from that of the United States. The courtroom scenes are especially superb as Alan M. Dershowitz takes the audience inside the Israeli legal world. Although the thriller elements feel unnecessary, The Trials of Zion is an entertaining novel that highlights how convoluted reaching peace in the area has been. Harriet Klausner