between Israeli and Palestinian entities, as the author describes at greater length. About two weeks before the Hamas attack, the Israeli police chief of Hebron was brutally murdered and decapitated. Most people suspect terrorism, but Yossi Ben-Gal, the veteran detective who winds up in charge of the investigation, is doubtful, in part because no one takes credit for the crime.

As Yossi investigates, he gains a de facto partner in Tony Malik, a half-Arab FBI agent in Hebron, who is attending a family wedding. Tony talked to the chief shortly before his death and became an immediate suspect. After convincing Yossi of his bona fides, Tony winds up assisting the Israeli in the investigation. Complicating matters (and arousing more suspicion against himself) is the fact that Tony was severely injured and lost an eye when a terrorist bomb went off in New York a year earlier. As a result, Tony experiences occasional memory loss and doesn’t recall his conversations with the chief.

As suggested by this plot capsule, The Human Scale has the makings of a taut, mismatched cop police thriller in an exotic setting. Indeed, in reading the book, I got the impression that the story may have originated as a screenplay treatment. However, the author had grander ideas in mind and decided to incorporate as much political and historical material as possible about the region and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a result, the central storyline expanded into an unwieldy and often suspense-killing 500 pages.

Much of the material inserted by the author is interesting or educational by itself. Some aspects, such as a discussion of the internal politics of the division of police responsibilities in Hebron, are necessary to fully understand the plot. Other excerpts would make good standalone articles in various journals. Unfortunately, they also divert the reader’s attention from the central storyline and dispel suspense. For example, at one point, an Israeli cop notes Malik’s eyepatch and resemblance to Moshe Dayan. The author could have given a one-paragraph explanation of the comment by briefly noting who Moshe Dayan was and his trademark eyepatch. Instead, the author inserts an entire chapter titled “Moshe Dayan” after the comment. That chapter is a brief biography of Moshe Dayan and a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the man. It also has no connection to the author’s central narrative. Readers may be confused when the author resumes the central plot.

Besides inserting material providing a factual history of the Palestinian conflict at various disjointed places in The Human Scale. the author also has multiple characters engaging in lengthy monologues describing their views. Many thrillers allow the villains to explain their motivation, and those speeches can be some of the more entertaining sections of a book. However, a good thriller author knows how to limit these monologues to keep the story from resembling a Dr. Evil movie. The supporting characters in The Human Scale include both Israeli and Arab moderates and hardliners, all of whom the author gives the floor to explain their reasoning at length. Again, this is material that would make for an interesting non-fiction study of the region. However, in a thriller, these monologues become tiresome.

The Human Scale reads like a screenplay for a political thriller that wound up being combined with the first draft of a study of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict leading to the Hamas attack. As such, it’s a disappointment on both counts. Worse, this mashup squanders the talents of a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who is uniquely positioned to report on the growing conflict. This book was obviously written in response to the Hamas attack. The author must have recognized the impact a well-written historical analysis would have had, yet he opted for the vehicle of a conventional thriller. As such, the story has a few interesting twists, but nothing readers haven’t seen many times before, with the extraneous material serving as a distraction. The result is a very ordinary book from an extraordinary talent.  

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.