Paperback, 448 pages
Published by Harper Perennial.
Wonderful alternative history (flipping a real tragedy on its head) where fundamentalist Christians bomb towers in Baghdad, Iraq. Mustafa Baghdadi is part of homeland security team in Iraq w. Salim and Amal-fighting Christian terrorism when the twin towers in Baghdad are attacked. Saddam Hussein is a gangster, Osama is a senator with evil intents. Mustafa's team travel to USA to find source of artifacts that suggest the world is a mirage and the U of Arab States is not real, but USA is a superpower, meet David Koresh, Tim McVeigh, Rumsfeld; at end mirage goes away leaving them facing an unknown world.
Interesting, but I felt the character development was off, and it didn't feel like a book by someone who had lived in the Middle East for a long time -- it felt like a book written by an American with some source material. Also, as soon as the plot moves to America, it gets way too cute with naming (or not naming) politicians and terrorists.
