Almost Dead

February 22, 2010
Israeli author Gavron offers an unusual perspective on Palestinian suicide bombings in this offbeat, often satirical political thriller. While riding a bus one morning, Eitan “Croc” Einoch, who works for a Tel Aviv consulting company that helps clients save money by teaching them ways to shave seconds off customer-service calls, tries to reassure fellow passengers that a suspicious-looking man isn't a terrorist. Soon after Croc gets off the bus, the man explodes a bomb. When Croc survives two more terror attacks, he becomes a celebrity, a nationalist symbol of defiant survival. While Croc looks into why one of the victims was on the bombed bus, a Palestinian bomber hospitalized in Jerusalem, Fahmi Sabich, plots his revenge. Without resorting to moral relativism, Gavron (Hydromania
) sheds light on the region's intractable conflict by allowing readers to relate to Fahmi as well as Croc.

April 15, 2010
Eitan Einoch, nicknamed Croc, is an ordinary Israeli thirtysomething. He works as a time management expert, lives with his girlfriend, and goes about his life. Then, he narrowly escapes dying in three separate terrorist attacks. Suddenly, Croc is a national celebrity and he finds himself re-examining his relationships and his life. Meanwhile, a young Palestinian suicide bomber lies in a coma, alternately aware of his surroundings and lost in the past that led him to become an unwilling terrorist. What is the connection between this man and Croc? Are more attacks to come? The dual story line creates two equally sympathetic and interesting characters, while adding a sense of suspense.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)