Sand Devil

by Michael B. Oren

An escaped murderer holds a young woman hostage in 'House of Bondage'. In 'The Maestro of Yerucham', a Russian violinist who has survived the Nazi and Soviet regimes finds a young girl he believes to be the heir to his talents. In 'Sand Devil', the son of a fundamentalist family discovers the terrifying secrets of the desert.

201 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Michael Bornstein Oren is an American-Israeli diplomat, essayist, historian, novelist, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party and a former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Oren has written books, articles, and essays on Middle Eastern history and foreign affairs, and is the author of the New York Times best-selling Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide, Power, Faith and Fantasy, and Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, which won the Los Angeles Times History Book of the Year Award and the National Jewish Book Award. Oren has taught at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown universities in the United States and at Ben-Gurion and Hebrew universities in Israel. He was a Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and a contributing editor to The New Republic. The Forward named Oren one of the five most influential American Jews, and The Jerusalem Post listed him as one of the world's ten most influential Jews.
Oren retired as ambassador to the United States in 2013, and was replaced by Ron Dermer. In the 2015 Israeli election, Oren was elected to the Knesset for the Kulanu party.

Reviews

[Steve Cran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book written by Michael B Oren who has written two important books on Middle Eastern History. The book Sand Devil is composed of three stories that occur out in the Negev. The first story revolves around a woman of Moroccan ancestry who lives in Beersheba alone. She is unmarried and is getting to that age where she will remain a spinster all of her life. Her life takes a dramatic change when a murderer named Marco escapes from a nearby prison. He is injured and she takes care of him. During the first few days she is held captive by him she begin to fall in love with Marco and has her first experience with this man. On one of her shopping trips she buys cigarettes and other things that she normally does not buy. Ramai Cohen a police officer takes notice. When they plan there get away to France Rami Cohen shakes things up.



The second story takes places in Yerucham. An aging conductor from Siberia reflects on his past’s life from a time when he had a family and fame and how the coming off the Nazis and Russians changed all of that. After 40 years in Siberia he makes Aliyah to Israel. He is shunted off to a Negev outpost where in he trains a young prodigy who is you daughter of Toledano the town big shot. She has a chance at an audition in Jerusalem but her father wont let here take it. The aging conductor decides to take her anyway and they go on a journey through the Negev. I’ll leave the ending a surprise.



The third story revolves around a fundamentalist Christian family that chooses to dwell in the Negev after thee father kills a burglar who enter their house. They live in a tent and watch after sheep. Young Robert befriends and old Bedouin named Iblis who tell him all about the area. One favorite story is the story of the giants and the Lions. All that remains is the spirit of the lion. The lion spirit possesses young Robert turning him into a savage. In the end the family flees save for father and son. All that is left is Revital an anthropologist and Robert who will spend their days out there living of the land.