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THE GHOST: Those I kill, Call me Alshabah
Although a work of fiction, THE An Assassin’s Story, is based on the true story of the author’s experiences growing up in Lebanon during that country’s bloody civil war, as well as his time as a counter-terrorist operative. The story follows “Paul” from his childhood in the Bekaa Valley to adulthood where he finds himself recruited as a trained killer by both Israel’s Mossad and the CIA. A tale of obsession and revenge, in this first book of the Al Shabah Assassin Series, Paul ultimately finds himself on the trail of a childhood nemesis who had become the feared charismatic leader of a violent
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 21, 2020
32 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
A.E. Sawan
5 books39 followersA.E. Sawan was born into a Christian family on the outskirts of Zahle in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. By the age of 12, he and his family had been forced to move five different times because of the country’s shattering civil war (1975 to 1990). Detained and tortured on several occasions by both the Syrian Army and the Palestinian Liberation Army (PLO), he eventually became a counter-terrorist operative specializing in diffusing bombs. Having survived the war, he severed his connections to violence and left Lebanon for Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 15, 2025
This story doesn't linger, it hunts...
A.E. Sawan pens with a knife that plunges the reader, neck-deep into foreign soil. Through Paul's descent into the bloodied streets of the Lebanese Civil War, the author strips language & chaos down to muscle and bone.
A young Paul walks us through the aftermath of the massacres in Damour and East Beirut, where entire families were butchered, homes torched, and churches defiled. Paul guides the reader through each wound with a steady hand. His dark but well-timed humor serves as an instrument, that cuts through tensions before the full weight of war presses in.
The author's hard-won insight offers the viewer an Eastern lens into the fray of war and the terrorist guise of Islam, which draped its black cloth and noose over safety and freedom, then dragged from it the vibrant life that once bustled within. Thrust from innocence into violence, Paul becomes an assassin trained in the art of retribution.
To the West, drowsy in its peacetime slumber, the onslaught is a looming caution that cracks with thunder. A requisite culling of terror stains the air, thick with the scent of iron—a whispered warning that bloodshed is far from over. A cautionary lesson for this age—the flags of terror were not mere symbols of ideology but tools of Syrian-backed militias, turning once-thriving Christian strongholds into slaughterhouses.
This story does not linger, it hunts. This work is not just a novel; it's a wound, and Al Shabah, The Ghost: a shadow in motion. The author and his story: a myth, a memory—a reckoning.
A.E. Sawan pens with a knife that plunges the reader, neck-deep into foreign soil. Through Paul's descent into the bloodied streets of the Lebanese Civil War, the author strips language & chaos down to muscle and bone.
A young Paul walks us through the aftermath of the massacres in Damour and East Beirut, where entire families were butchered, homes torched, and churches defiled. Paul guides the reader through each wound with a steady hand. His dark but well-timed humor serves as an instrument, that cuts through tensions before the full weight of war presses in.
The author's hard-won insight offers the viewer an Eastern lens into the fray of war and the terrorist guise of Islam, which draped its black cloth and noose over safety and freedom, then dragged from it the vibrant life that once bustled within. Thrust from innocence into violence, Paul becomes an assassin trained in the art of retribution.
To the West, drowsy in its peacetime slumber, the onslaught is a looming caution that cracks with thunder. A requisite culling of terror stains the air, thick with the scent of iron—a whispered warning that bloodshed is far from over. A cautionary lesson for this age—the flags of terror were not mere symbols of ideology but tools of Syrian-backed militias, turning once-thriving Christian strongholds into slaughterhouses.
This story does not linger, it hunts. This work is not just a novel; it's a wound, and Al Shabah, The Ghost: a shadow in motion. The author and his story: a myth, a memory—a reckoning.
April 15, 2025
A.E. Sawan pens with a knife that plunges the reader, neck-deep into foreign soil. Through Paul's descent into the bloodied streets of the Lebanese Civil War, the author strips language & chaos down to muscle and bone.
A young Paul walks us through the aftermath of the massacres in Damour and East Beirut, where entire families were butchered, homes torched, and churches defiled. Paul guides the reader through each wound with a steady hand. His dark but well-timed humor serves as an instrument, that cuts through tensions before the full weight of war presses in.
The author's hard-won insight offers the viewer an Eastern lens into the fray of war and the terrorist guise of Islam, which draped its black cloth and noose over safety and freedom, then dragged from it the vibrant life that once bustled within. Thrust from innocence into violence, Paul becomes an assassin trained in the art of retribution.
To the West, drowsy in its peacetime slumber, the onslaught is a looming caution that cracks with thunder. A requisite culling of terror stains the air, thick with the scent of iron—a whispered warning that bloodshed is far from over. A cautionary lesson for this age—the flags of terror were not mere symbols of ideology but tools of Syrian-backed militias, turning once-thriving Christian strongholds into slaughterhouses.
This story does not linger, it hunts. This work is not just a novel; it's a wound, and Al Shabah, The Ghost—a shadow in motion. The author and his story: a myth, a memory—a reckoning.
A young Paul walks us through the aftermath of the massacres in Damour and East Beirut, where entire families were butchered, homes torched, and churches defiled. Paul guides the reader through each wound with a steady hand. His dark but well-timed humor serves as an instrument, that cuts through tensions before the full weight of war presses in.
The author's hard-won insight offers the viewer an Eastern lens into the fray of war and the terrorist guise of Islam, which draped its black cloth and noose over safety and freedom, then dragged from it the vibrant life that once bustled within. Thrust from innocence into violence, Paul becomes an assassin trained in the art of retribution.
To the West, drowsy in its peacetime slumber, the onslaught is a looming caution that cracks with thunder. A requisite culling of terror stains the air, thick with the scent of iron—a whispered warning that bloodshed is far from over. A cautionary lesson for this age—the flags of terror were not mere symbols of ideology but tools of Syrian-backed militias, turning once-thriving Christian strongholds into slaughterhouses.
This story does not linger, it hunts. This work is not just a novel; it's a wound, and Al Shabah, The Ghost—a shadow in motion. The author and his story: a myth, a memory—a reckoning.
October 17, 2020
Good read
A very believable story, I wasn’t sure if I was reading fiction or nonfiction at times. I appreciated the background, the story of his family and their lives as it evolved from a peaceful good life to a life of hardship for not just the Christians but for everyone including Muslims. It shows what can happen when society starts to create animosity’s between people due to race, creed or color, everyone loses the sense of a safe life. The proofreading and punctuation was really bad and made it more difficult to read, the book could use a spellcheck program!
A very believable story, I wasn’t sure if I was reading fiction or nonfiction at times. I appreciated the background, the story of his family and their lives as it evolved from a peaceful good life to a life of hardship for not just the Christians but for everyone including Muslims. It shows what can happen when society starts to create animosity’s between people due to race, creed or color, everyone loses the sense of a safe life. The proofreading and punctuation was really bad and made it more difficult to read, the book could use a spellcheck program!
October 11, 2020
This was a really interesting book, a somewhat fictionalized autobiography by Mr. Sawan. I'd read Friedman's "From Beirut to Jerusalem" some years ago so knew somewhat about the war between Muslims and Christians. This was a more personal look at that conflict. The book was badly in need of proofreading, but I didn't really have a problem reading it. There was quite a bit of rather dark humor in it. I suspect a sense of humor is a good thing to have during times like that.
October 14, 2020
A sad tale of imploding Lebonan
A grim history of a prosperous and peaceful Lebanon being broken and bloodied by sectarian violence ignited by its neighbours.
Recounts of a Christian caught in the vicious cycle of violence, and the ruthless intelligence agencies that chart the course of deaths and destruction.
Easy to read and riveting attention.
A grim history of a prosperous and peaceful Lebanon being broken and bloodied by sectarian violence ignited by its neighbours.
Recounts of a Christian caught in the vicious cycle of violence, and the ruthless intelligence agencies that chart the course of deaths and destruction.
Easy to read and riveting attention.
October 5, 2024
Absolutely amazing story telling. The book just sucks you in from the beginning and it becomes incredibly addictive
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews