Bleedback: Terror. Blood Money. Compassion.

by Gwen Griffith-Dickson

November 2011. Osama bin Laden is dead, while a
resurgent right-wing in the US plots to subvert Obama’s
foreign policy agenda. A leader of the Iranian Revolution
now exiled in America, Ayatollah Rastani has tried to stay
out of politics to keep his family safe. But recent events
have had seismic consequences for his native region, and
a shattered community now looks to Rastani for spiritual
and political leadership: will he risk everything to support
his people?
Circling Rastani for very different reasons are two men
whose worlds have also been thrown into turmoil. Former
Al Qa‘ida strategist Atamar Anagul is lured back from
seclusion to mastermind attacks from war-torn Iraq to
the streets of London. But when Rastani emerges as a
target for assassination for sectarian reasons that Atamar
rejects, his certainties begin to unravel.
Russian intelligence officer Aleksandr Kozhevnikov is
on a mission to infiltrate the Chester Brampton Group,
a private US company with a very lucrative interest in
prolonging conflict in the region. Rastani’s rising profile
seems like a perfect opportunity for Chester Brampton
to draw Iran into their theatre of operations…and
Kozhevnikov will be powerless to stop them without help
from the unlikeliest of allies.
Written by an insider and saturated in realism, Bleedback
immerses the reader in the conflicts of the war on
terror. But this thought-provoking exploration of a post-
Osama world is also lit by compassion, forgiveness, and
redemption.

522 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2013

About the author

Born and raised in Hawai’i, Gwen Griffith-Dickson has lived in London since 1981. Gwen is a renowned Philosophy professor, author and speaker who became a reluctant expert in counter-terrorism.

Gwen is a former Vice Principal in the University of London, Professor of Divinity at Gresham College, and currently a Visiting Professor at King's College London who has done groundbreaking work in bringing an interfaith approach to theology and the philosophy of religion. She has a background in Continental European Philosophy, especially German thought, as well as a keen interest in Hawaiian Studies.

Gwen is also the founder and director of the Lokahi Foundation: its mission is to enable society to embrace religious diversity with respect and understanding, and one of its nationwide programmes remains the only community programme in Britain to prevent a terrorist attack. Gwen has advised and created programmes for the UK and US Governments on Counter-Terrorism.

In her spare time, Gwen enjoys classical singing, Russian martial arts and Hawai’ian hula.

Reviews

[Caitlín · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful book. Bleedback is a unique mix of being an addictive, exhilarating page turner and incredibly deep, theological and well researched book.
You find yourself swept along with the events that unfold, in much the same way as the characters are. You become immersed in the dangerous world that Griffith-Dickson describes.
I highly recommend this book.

[Rohase Piercy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book like no other. On the one hand it's a fast-paced political thriller involving Russian spies, Muslim Shia Ayatollahs and Sunni jihadists, American military and economic intervention in Iraq and Machiavellian MI5 agents; on the other, it's a theological narrative exploring the common ground between the Religions of the Book, and nature of Absolute Being, the meaning and purpose of human life and the concept of sacrifice. The author is, unsurprisingly, an expert in counter-terrorism who also happens to be a respected theologian.
The plot is multi-faceted, the characters compelling and credible; Ayatollah Rastani, the charismatic but peaceful man of God, is particularly heartbreaking. The denoument is real edge-of-the-seat narrative, and the writing is very, very good.
Among the many brutal and shocking revelations encountered along the way, the most chilling for me was this: 'Real power in the world is not political – it's economic … Prime Ministers and Presidents think they direct things; but in reality everything happens through economic forces. The politics, the diplomacy, is all just a sideshow.' What chance do people of faith have against such a cynical, manipulative machine? Thankfully we are offered a powerful message of hope, and the possibility of transformation.
One thing is missing: a subjective female voice. I can see that this could over-complicate an already complex narrative, and that the author had to work credibly within patriarchal religious, political and social contstructs, but Western perception of Islam being what it is, its absence will be noted by Western female readers. A subject for a sequel, perhaps?
'Bleedback' would make a powerful, thought-provoking film, if any producer were bold enough … meanwhile, read the book, and think on...

[Kim Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book with a well constructed plot and some good characterisation. Once you start reading you get drawn into the plot.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only made it a quarter through thus far. Would hate to put this on a DNF list. I like the story and would love to keep reading but, there are just way too many characters and storylines going on at once. I need some type of flow chart just to keep track of it all - it's giving me ADD. Trying to remember who's who while steadily being introduced to more characters and a jumping storyline is exhausting. I do like the story regarding terrorism - it's fascinating. I just wish the author would have focused on one storyline for a longer length of time before jumping to the next one. Within six pages, you jump to four different plot lines. I will pick this up periodically between other books. Hopefully, I won't forget what's going on in the interim.