-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:Revere Falk is an interrogator at “Gitmo,” assigned a Yemeni prisoner who may have valuable information about al-Qaeda. But suddenly he is put in charge of an investigation into the death of American soldier washed ashore in Cuba. And there is an unusual level of interest in the proceedings, from his commander, the Cubans, and the various factions of the military....
Dan Fesperman’s award-winning novels have transported readers to the heart
of some of the world’s most volatile places: Yugoslavia during the Balkan Wars
in Lie in the Dark and The Small Boat of Great Sorrows (“A new
standard for war-based thrillers”—Los Angeles Times), and Afghanistan
during the last days of the Taliban in The Warlord’s Son (“A first-rate
geopolitical yarn”—Entertainment Weekly). Now he turns his sights closer
to home—to the secretive, overheated world of Guantánamo—to give us a
galvanizing new thriller.
Revere Falk—FBI veteran, Arabic speaker—is an interrogator at “Gitmo,” assigned
to a “hold-out,” a Yemeni prisoner who may have valuable information about
al-Qaeda. But these duties are temporarily suspended when the body of an
American soldier is found washed ashore in Cuban territory. No American has ever
turned up dead on the wrong side of the fence before. Suddenly, Cold War tension
is back, and Falk finds himself at the heart of it when he’s put in charge of
the investigation into the death. Almost immediately he senses an unusual level
of interest in the proceedings: from his commander, from the Cubans, and from
the various factions of the military. And when the Defense Intelligence Agency
unexpectedly sends its own team to “reinforce” the investigation, Falk
understands that there is much more at play than anybody is willing to admit. He
is drawn into a game of evasion and pursuit, a game whose stakes spike
dangerously when a figure from his past reappears—someone who knows secrets
about him that he had hoped were buried forever.
An intricately layered, blistering tale of subterfuge and deception at the
highest, most hidden levels of the government, and in the most intimate, and
vulnerable, moments of individual lives, The Prisoner of Guantánamo is as
timely and razor sharp in its depiction of life—and death—at Gitmo as it
is unstoppably suspenseful.
CHAPTER ONE
On the first day of his transition from captor to captive, Revere Falk stood
barefoot on a starlit lawn at 4 a.m., still naively confident of his place among
those who asked the questions and hoarded the secrets.
Falk was an old hand at concealment, trained from birth. The skill came in handy
when you were an FBI interrogator. Who better to pry loose the artifacts of
other lives than someone who knew all the hiding places? Better still, he spoke
Arabic.
Not that he was putting his talents to much use at Guantanamo. And at the moment
he was furious, having just returned from a botched session that summed up
everything he hated about this place: too few detainees of real value, too many
agencies tussling over the scraps, and too much heat—in every sense of the word.
Even at this hour, beads of sweat crawled across his scalp. By the time the sun
was up it would be another day for the black flag, which the Army hoisted
whenever the ...
What comes across loud and viscerally clear is the all encompassing presence of the US military, controlling every aspect of the base, and the people's lives therein, irrespective of which side of the bars they happen to be...continued
Full Review
(623 words)
(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean (780 miles long, 140 miles at its widest point) with a population of about 11 million; and infant mortality, life expectancy and literacy rates on a par with the USA (6.45 deaths per 1,000 live births, 77 years life expectancy, 97% literacy). It suffered a severe economic recession in the 1990s following the withdrawal of subsidies from the former Soviet Union and has not yet recovered to its pre '90s strength.
About 1.5 million tourists visited Cuba in 2004, including about 100,000 Americans (despite the travel restrictions). It is the #1 Caribbean tourist destination for Canadians. In 2003 the U.S. Senate voted (59 to 36) in favor of lifting the ban on travel to Cuba. The result was similar to a...
If you liked The Prisoner of Guantanamo, try these:
by Curtis Dawkins
Published 2018
In this stunning debut collection, Curtis Dawkins, an MFA graduate and convicted murderer serving life without parole, takes us inside the worlds of prison and prisoners with stories that dazzle with their humor and insight, even as they describe a harsh and barren existence.
by Olen Steinhauer
Published 2010
Milo Weaver used to be a “tourist” for the CIA—an undercover agent with no home, no identity. But when the arrest of an assassin exposes new layers of intrigue in his old cases, he has no choice but to go back undercover and find out who’s holding the strings once and for all.
by Mahvish Khan
Published 2009
Outraged that her country was illegally imprisoning people at Guantanamo, Mahvish Khan volunteered to translate for the prisoners. Her story is a challenging, brave, and essential test of who she is —and who we are.
 (1).gif)
There is no worse robber than a bad book.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
