"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.
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Emma Ringel, the daughter of prominent defense attorney Abe Ringel, has just finished Yale Law School and moved back to her father’s home in Cambridge. She is ready to begin a prestigious clerkship with a judge when she gets an e-mail from classmate Habash Ein, who now works for Palestinian Human Rights Watch in the Middle East. He wants her to assist in the defense of a young Arab arrested after a horrible terrorist attack. Habash feels that the man is innocent. As Emma, a young Jewish woman, begins to work on the case, she spends time with her Israeli relatives and learns more about the history of her family and the much-contested land in the Middle East. She also has to consider her feelings for Habash. Her father soon finds himself involved in the case, too. Dershowitz has constructed a thriller based on current events that combines exciting action with courtroom drama and a lesson in the history and politics of the Middle East. A thought-provoking page-turner. --Barbara Bibel
ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ is a Brooklyn native who has been called 'the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer' and one of its 'most distinguished defenders of individual rights,' 'the best-known criminal lawyer in the world,' 'the top lawyer of last resort,' and 'America's most public Jewish defender.' He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg. While he is known for defending clients such as Anatoly Sharansky, Claus von B'low, O.J. Simpson, Michael Milken and Mike Tyson, he continues to represent numerous indigent defendants and takes half of his cases pro bono. Dershowitz is the author of 20 works of fiction and non-fiction, including 6 bestsellers. His writing has been praised by Truman Capote, Saul Bellow, David Mamet, William Styron, Aharon Appelfeld, A.B. Yehoshua and Elie Wiesel. More than a million of his books have been sold worldwide, in numerous languages, and more than a million people have heard him lecture around the world. His most recent nonfiction titles are The Case For Peace: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Can be Resolved (August 2005, Wiley); Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights (November 2004, Basic Books), The Case for Israel (September 2003, Wiley), America Declares Independence, Why Terrorism Works, Shouting Fire, Letters to a Young Lawyer, Supreme Injustice, and The Genesis of Justice. His novels include The Advocate's Devil and Just Revenge. Dershowitz is also the author of The Vanishing American Jew, The Abuse Excuse, Reasonable Doubts, Chutzpah (a #1 bestseller), Reversal of Fortune (which was made into an Academy Award-winning film), Sexual McCarthyism and The Best Defense.
Imagine that your precious only daughter has just graduated from law school and seems enchanted with a young Palestinian that she worked with in law school. The young man has invited her to come to Israel to work on the defense of a Palestinian accused of triggering a bomb in a prominent Israeli hotel that murdered the U.S. President, the Prime Minister of Israel, and the Hamas leader shortly to become President of the newly established Palestinian state, as the leaders were about to announce their agreement.
You are also a famous trial lawyer who has defended a long line of detestable characters, winning a reputation as a genius.
Your daughter defies your wishes, as young people are will do, and goes to Israel to begin work on the case. Shortly thereafter, she is kidnapped.
What would you do? Probably go to Israel as Abraham Ringel and his former spy wife did.
The Trials of Zion is a fine thriller written by a famous lawyer and law professor, perhaps envisioning himself in the situation of his protagonist. In any event, this is a superbly well crafted story. It flows easily. Mr. Dershowitz includes an interesting history of families that immigrated to Israel at the time of the American Civil War as elements of the Zionist movement. The stories of these families shed light on the intrigues of the story.
In thrillers, it seems there is often violence and one dimensional characters. In The Trials of Zion, you will enjoy a touching story full of characters who have histories, secrets from each other, romantic interests, fears and hopes, and content. This is a story that I was sad to see end.
Aside from the excellent story and fine writing, the background of The Trials of Zion provides an interesting commentary on the real world struggles of the people of the Holy Land, and the role of Iran today, without judgmental commentary one way or another. In the end, the identity of the bad guys provides a clever, fascinating, thoughtful, and surprising ending.
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.
Dershowtiz quotes Justice Holmes in saying "Young man, we're in the law business, not the justice business." Dershowtiz needs to stick to the law business. He is a poor novelist. The plot was rushed and filled with significant holes. Anyone who seriously reads well-written thrillers could find many technical errors. He could have benefited from a technical expert reading it for him.
Everything felt rushed and very thin. I didn't believe anything. I expected this to be something good, not airport paperback trash quality writing. A damn love story that advanced the plot was tacked in as tactlessly as in a B movie. I felt insulted as a reader.
The torture scene was gratitious and insulting. The whole "crazy Christians did it" theme is also insulting, and I think very discriminatory. Dershowtiz should be ashamed of himself for this, because it is just like the age-old "the Jews did it" tripe that racist writers have penned. I won't criticize him too much for it, because the Christians were crazy, but he puts the Muslim terrorists in a better, more sympathetic light.
Dershowtiz should not be writing anything that takes place outside of a courtroom, and even then, his legal scenes were less-than thrilling. Political/spy thriller? No. Legal thriller? No. Middle-Eastern idealist novel, yes, but a poor one. This wasn't total trash and even though it is a cheap, unsophisticated novel, at least it made sense. I'll give Dershowtiz credit for outlining his work, at least. And maybe I have a little respect more respect for defense attorneys, but that's another story.
