Customer Reviews

31 Hours

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4 star:		(8)
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2 star:		(1)
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31 Hours by Masha Hamilton is a story that will haunt readers long after the covers are closed. Carol Meitzner wakes up suddenly one night with a mother's intuition that something is incredibly wrong with her twenty-one year old son, Jonas. She hasn't heard from him in over a week, which is unusual for the close pair, but this goes beyond the normal worries of a mother. For the next 31 hours, she will try to find him before something, she doesn't know what, goes irrevocably wrong. While Carol looks for Jonas, he is secreted in a small basement apartment preparing to take an action that will force the entire nation to rethink its violent nature. Hamilton's provocative book is a stunning read. Despite Jonas' terrible intentions, Hamilton has made him sympathetic to readers. He's not a brainwashed automaton or frenzied monster; his intent is clear (at least to him) and while he goes through periods of fear, he never considers backing out or changing his mind. It's Jonas' realism that makes him so frightening; he could be any college student who feels disenfranchised with the United States. Hamilton keeps the suspense drawn so tightly that there were entire chapters where I forgot to breathe, only catching a breath with the blank page at the end of a chapter. Brilliantly written, this is a book that won't let the reader go easily.

Suicide bombers are a fact of life in the contemporary world. They are rarely political zealots, though they are recruited by such. They are the easily led, the disaffected, the mentally disadvantaged members of what Karl Marx referred to as the lumpen proletariat. The fact that attacks by these individuals, unfortunately led astray, have not been successful in the United States has been the direct and proximate result of the internal security that the chattering classes have demeaned almost from its inception; still, sooner or later, one will succeed here. And it will probably unfold in the manner described in 31 HOURS, Masha Hamilton's brilliantly understated novel.

Jonas Meitzner is the prototype useful idiot of 31 HOURS. Hamilton creates a picture of this twenty-something disaffected youth perfectly, without resorting to caricature. One cannot read a paragraph or two about Jonas without immediately recognizing him as one of the many graduate students who one will trip over when walking more than 20 feet in any direction. As the book opens, Jonas's mother, Carol, realizes she hasn't spoken to her son for a while and senses something is wrong. Anyone who is the parent of an emancipated offspring will know this feeling immediately; one either gets it or doesn't, and as painted by Hamilton, it is entirely believable. Carol stews for a bit, and then turns to Vic, Jonas's longtime friend who has recently become his lover. Vic, wrapped up in preparation for her debut as a classical dancer, realizes even before Carol contacts her that she also hasn't seen Jonas lately.

It turns out that Jonas has deserted his own apartment for an Islamist safe-house apartment. First attracted to, and then recruited by, Masoud, a Wahabi terrorist, and now cut off from everyone, Jonas is physically and mentally preparing himself for a political statement that will take place on the streets of New York at the end of the novel. He hopes his parents and Vic will understand.

Jonas's parents divorced when he was young. His mother is a sculptor, and his father is a failed artist turned successful (or maybe not) gallery owner. Their relationship is slippery and ill-defined, yet somehow still there. At one point, Carol confesses to noticing a change in Jonas over the few months leading up to the events that unfold, yet marked it only in hindsight. Vic has recently moved out of her parents' house, and her father has done the same, abandoning a comfortable home to live in what would have been called at one time (uncharitably but accurately) a slum. She is wrapped up in her career as well, and is able to give only scant attention to Jonas and her younger sister, who is on the cusp of adolescence and probably affected most of all by her parents' separation and her mother's mental decomposition.

Vic's life is seemingly solid at the center --- her upcoming performance is sure to be a winner --- but is fraying badly at the edges. She perhaps has the best chance of stopping the fateful journey that Jonas has chosen to take, yet abandons it in worship of the god of political correction. It is ironic, then, that the only characters in the novel with any sort of structure to their lives are Masoud and Sonny Hirt, a street person by choice who senses that something dark and terrible is about to take place.

The conclusion of 31 HOURS is as stark and quietly terrifying as anything I have read recently, not only for the abruptness of its ending but also for the realization that it is but one of several stories momentarily alluded to yet not told. A thriller in every sense of the word, it is also a work of literary fiction, a cautionary tale for the times taking place somewhere at this moment and for the foreseeable future.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

I think that what I like best about Masha Hamilton's writing is that she takes me places I wouldn't normally go, and opens my eyes to things that I should see. In that sense, her prose is unblinking, simultaneously lyrical and stark. Hamilton takes what is universal--for instance, a mother worrying over her 21-year-old son who she hasn't seen or talked to in awhile--and transforms it, so that the reader feels viscerally what each and every character feels, from a prescient panhandler making his rounds on the subway, to an 11-year-old girl whose parents have split up and whose mother tailspins into depression. Then there is Jonas, the subject of all the worry, a boy-man who wants to change the world, and has been suborned into doing it violently. Hamilton makes even this believable. And that was before I even read my morning newspaper about the recent foiling of a terrorist plot.

I know the ending is going to haunt me.

The face of terrorism in Masha Hamilton's novel 31 Hours is not a face one would expect. It is the face of a 21 year old, seemingly normal boy named Jonas Meitzner. Jonas, is quiet, empatheic, and altruistic , qualities that make him vulnerable to extreme political and social causes. Into this mix comes Massoud who sees in Jonas a tool to further the Islamic terrorist cause. Jonas' family and friends do not read the danger signals in his changed behavior as so many boys his age also act distant and removed. The novel follows the last 31 hours of Jonas' preparation for a suicide bomber's mission.As his mother follows a strong intuitive feeling and uncovers what is really happening, the hours tick away and many intertwined and innocent lives weave in and out of Jonas' projected path. It is ironic that Jonas comes from a privleged family but feels sad, empty and useless while the homeless beggar,Sonny Hirt, feels happy blessed and full. It is something to ponder. It is a page turning read that will leave you thinking long after the book is closed.

At three in the morning in Manhattan, Carol abruptly wakes up with a premonition that her son Jonas is in trouble. She thinks about it and realizes he has not called her in several weeks. Carol goes back to feeling uneasy as only a mom can understand. The next day she tries his cell phone and visits his apartment, but neither proves fruitful. She visits his girlfriend Vic, who informs her Jonas has not returned her calls nor has she seen him lately, but she has no idea what she did to make him so angry that he cut off communication to her. Vic's response sends Carol into a deeper panic.

Jonas Meitzner is the son of an atheist mother and a Jewish father Jake whose parents were Hasidic. His parents split when he was young, but that did not matter as he grew up faithless, but recently discovered Islam. His spiritual guide Masoud believes that American society needs change from within violently; Jonas is an expendable tool to do so.

31 hours until he puts into place what he learned while secretly sequestered in Pakistan; 31 hours before he commits an act of terrorism on the trains; 31 hours before his letters reach his loved ones; 31 hours before he breaks many hearts including that of his mom.

Mindful of the young Minneapolis Muslims that apparently has concerned the community and the Feds, 31 HOURS is a timely thriller as loved ones increasingly become concerned when they lose contact with Jonas. Fans will feel the anguish of his mom, the concern of his dad; the bewilderment of his girlfriend; the disassociation of guilt by his guide; and finally him, the focus of those who care about him in varying ways as he knows if one of them besides Masoud reaches him he will falter with his beliefs. Fans will be hooked into this one sitting as a nice young man walks a deadly final 31 hours unless a miracle intercedes.

Harriet Klausner

I originally picked up 31 Hours from the library because I saw several people tweeting about it, and it sounded interesting. I'm sure that was the goal, and it worked.

31 Hours is the story of a young man, Jonas, who plans to become a suicide bomber in NYC at the end of 31 hours. Though Jonas is teaming up with those who have religious reasons behind their assault on America, Jonas reasons are more political and social. More than anything, Jonas is depicted as a typical youth and overwhelmingly human.

Still, 31 Hours is not really a story about domestic terrorism, but about his life and the lives of those around him. Really, the terrorism is a frame for the stories she tells about Jonas's girlfriend and her family (I couldn't get enough of her sister Mara's story of her struggle with her parents separation), his own parents, and a homeless, professional beggar.

I recommend this book, not because it's a fast-paced thriller (there is some of that) but because it's an interest study in character. The ending will keep you thinking. If you're not completely sold, a book with a similar premise, In the Name of God, is even better done.

When I signed on to read this book I chose it as I found it to be refreshingly different than anything I had read before. That is usually a draw for me... and I was not disappointing by Masha Hamilton's book. The background setting of this book - a subway - a mother's intuition - New York - time ticking away...

In a word I found this book breathtaking. The tension I felt from Carol, the mother, really hit home for me... I could imagine that feeling; all worried about your kid - no matter how old they are (been there - done that). And all you have to go on is a feeling. The fact is, I am not sure if this was a read that I would have chose off the book shelf - the terrorism in the book was way out in left field for me and while incredibly intense and interesting.... I felt as though I didn't let my guard down for the entire book... Is that possible? And maybe, that's the way it was suppose to be.

And then.... as suddenly as it began... it reached the ending that left me still unsure if it was time to let go of the breath that I had been holding in for the better part of the book.

I feel as though I am still processing this book. I think Masha Hamilton has a well written novel here - with incredibly real characters. I did enjoy this sometimes difficult read and would like to read more of what she has written. A definite unique read that starts with a shock of adrenaline and continues to keep the heart rate rising from there.

Carol wakes up, sure that her son, Jonas, is in trouble. He is grown and living on his own, but Carol still feels that tight maternal connection that she believes will always let her know if he needs her. She tries repeatedly to call him, but cannot connect with him. She calls his friends, but no one seems to have seen him lately. She goes to the apartment of his new girlfriend, Vic, but although she catches her coming home, Vic hasn't heard from him either. She is busy working on a new dance show and hasn't been home much herself, so hasn't thought much of Jonas's silence. Carol even contacts Jake, Jonas' father whom she has been divorced from for years to try to get his help. They try to reassure each other, but end up convincing each other that something serious is going on.

Carol is right that Jonas is in trouble. Jonas is still in Manhattan, but has traveled far away in his mind. He is in a new apartment, a temporary waystation set up by Muslim extremists to house those recruits the night before they commit terrorist attacks. Jonas is there praying and purifying himself. Tomorrow morning he will strap on a vest filled with explosives and enter the subway to set it off. He doesn't want to die, but wants to make a statement that the violence worldwide must end. He is convinced that his sacrifice and the deaths of others will make his point.

The reader meets other residents of New York City. There is Mara, Vic's little sister, who considers Jonas like a big brother. Mara is the only child left at home, which means she is left to deal with her parents' breakup and her mother's withdrawal as she grieves about it. Mara decides to ride the subway to her father's new apartment to try to talk him into coming home. We also meet Sonny, who makes his living in the subways, panhandling and getting by while homeless.

Masha Hamilton has created an intriguing story. The tension rachets up with every page, as the reader realises that this is really happening, and wonders if Carol and Jake will find Jonas in time to stop him. The author is adept at setting the atmosphere of a busy city. Her real forte though is character development. Each character, no matter how large or small their part in the story, is fully developed to the point that one feels one could pick them out of a crowd. She makes us feel what each is feeling. It is impossible to put this book down without finding out what happens next. This book is recommended for all readers.

At the opposite end of the apathetic is the kind of person who feels everything so deeply and overwhelmingly personal that living the everyday life seems not only impossible, but morally irresponsible as well. Jonas is one such person. Unfortunately, it is just this type of personality that is easy prey for extremists, cults, and religious fundamentalists. Jonas sees an unjust world of pain, materialism, corruption, and indifference and he feels compelled to do something of consequence to "wake people up" and demand change.

To those closest to him, Jonas is known to be very sensitive and empathetic with a proclivity towards depression, so when he is suddenly out of touch and unreachable, his mother, girlfriend and family become concerned that something is awry. As the title implies, in just 31 Hours something is going to happen and Jonas's family have only a short time to find him.

We are introduced to an amalgam of interesting characters whose fates are linked by a ripple effect of choices and ill-fated circumstance. I particularly enjoyed the juxtaposition of this young man from a good home with everything going for him who feels he has nothing of significance and this older man who is homeless and has very little yet feels he has enough.

The book is fast paced, succinct, and frightening because of its plausibility. It was most disturbing to have the omniscient perspective and see that Jonas thought what he was doing was an act of pure altruism. 31 Hours is certainly one of those books that you keep thinking about long after you turn the last page.

31 Hours will haunt you long after you turn the last page. It is wholly original and a powerful reading experience, like none I've had before.