Give Me Death

by John Fullerton

Reem is twenty, bright and strikingly attractive. Nick is twenty-seven and determined to do what he can to make the world a better place. But when they meet in a fashionable bar it is certainly no accident. For Reem has completed her training as a so-called terrorist - under the tutelage of the mysterious Ustaz, or teacher, and Nicholas Lorimer is her first assignment. It is Nick`s first posting abroad. The UN has sent him to Beirut to help trace thousands of Lebanese missing during the country`s civil war and Nick has what Reem needs; access out of the city`s besieged western sector into the mainly Christian east, and to a notorious rightwing warlord with his sights set on the country`s presidency. The Ustaz wants El-Hami killed before he aligns the Arab country with the United States and Israel, plunging the entire region into turmoil. For Reem, the fight is personal. She has lost her family and home. She volunteers for the ultimate mission - an Operation of Quality. A suicide attack. Nick`s love for Reem explodes the bubble of foreignness that has kept him unscathed by the war. Once he realises the truth, he must choose between Reem and what his contacts at the British embassy insist is his duty. Fullerton`s third novel is a tough, fast-paced thriller. It is also a moving account of what happens to ordinary people in the face of overwhelming force. Praise for A HOSTILE `Harsh, cold-eyed thriller, absolutely the antithesis of a flag-waver... Fullerton puts the politics on hold and tells his story with heart, guts and go. A brilliant performance, with a fierce, uncosy intelligence setting off the fireworks`. Literary Review

354 pages, Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John Fullerton worked briefly during the Cold War as a 'contract labourer' for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, an episode that fired up his interest in fictional espionage. He failed spectacularly in his efforts as a farmer in Zimbabwe and as a trainee financial manager in Cape Town. As a newspaperman, freelance journalist and then Reuters correspondent, he lived or worked in 40 countries and covered a dozen wars. The latter provided some of the settings for his fiction, including Beirut and Sarajevo. His latest thriller, Emperor, was published in 2022. He has an MA with distinction in Buddhist Studies and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Roehampton University in 2006/7.

Reviews

[Emma]

I found this gripping and beautifully written. The novel draws you into Beirut in the 1980s and builds up to a cinematic climax.

[Caroline Price]

DNF. Couldn't get into it

[Gill]

I can't say I enjoyed this book because some of it was very hard to read and much of it was confusing. That, of course, is because of the subject matter, the Lebanese Civil War. It was, however, very well written and gave me some insight into why and how someone could become a suicide bomber, and the characters were well written and developed through the story.

[Renske]

I found this book a little bit hard to read. It has a couple of difficult words in it and I didn’t always understand whose side of the story it was. After all, I find the book well written and the story was interesting and nice.