Promised Virgins: A Novel of Jihad

by Jeffrey Fleishman

Hearing rumors about a mysterious bearded foreigner who has been stirring up Kosovo rebels with jihad prophecies, veteran journalist Jay Morgan and his war victim translator, Alija, set out to interview the self-appointed prophet and search for Alija's missing brother.

Genres: Fiction

253 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2009

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only things wrong with this book is the silly cover of a woman hugging herself, and an "iffy" title, but once you're past those you've entered a world in which fiction provides a greater truth. There are a lot of novels about Jihad floating around out there; most of them are just war stories with good guys, bad guys, beautiful women, and arch-heroics taking place in one of the many "stans" of the world. Mostly they glorify some aspect of war. Mostly they lie. Two books that don't lie are John Le Carre's latest, A Most Wanted Man, and Promised Virgins.

Promised Virgins takes place in Bosnia, tracks two war correspondents, their translator, and a few colorful characters, introduces the "dateman," a fanatic who travels the world pushing hatred and Jihad, quite reminiscent of the bastard bin Laden. Friendships are key, but many bad things happen. Jeffrey Fleishman, a war correspondent himself, nails locale, milieu, and character. Promised Virgins is exciting, emotional, very well written (though sometimes a bit too Hemingway,) and well worth the time.

Hightly recommended.

[Roger Angle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this novel. Richly detailed, well written, has strong story momentum, believable fascinating characters, emotional depth and power. This is about reporters who get emotionally involved with people in war zones and the price they pay to do their jobs.

They risk their lives to bring the world authentic accounts of life in war. It’s also about a young woman whose life is all but destroyed by the war, about civilians who lose everything, about a sniper who’d rather be playing jazz piano but keeps pulling the trigger.

I can’t wait to read it again.

BTW, the title is misleading, I think. It's supposed to lead you into the world of Jihad, but the central character is a journalist, a war correspondent in a war zone. A better title might have been "My Translator" or "Witness to War."

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful language and fast-paced plotting. I loved this novel written by a war correspondent who infuses the chapters with authentic details of foreign mayhem. Read it!

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think Hemingway and Graham Greene. It is no exaggeration to mention this novel in that company. And please don't be influenced by the lukewarm reviews from people who are obviously unfamiliar with this genre of war correspondent fiction. Or, if you dislike it, stay away. For the genre's fans, I say, you have a treat in store. The book is utterly convincing as an account of journalism in war-torn settings -- I have done a little myself. It is full of feeling, of utterly persuasive, humane descriptions of intimacy, and of quite wonderfully vivid, economical character descriptions. The author's eye for detail is magnificent, and the always-intelligent writing feels fresh, for all the lead character's world-weariness, and war-weariness. And the cover picture is poignantly relevant. Wow. A GREAT read.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book kind of slow and hard to follow. I did appreciate the character development and I really felt for the characters towards the end. I actually found this book to have much less emotion than I would have expected. It seemed dry in spots.

That said, the author has a way with words. His descriptions are quite beatiful. His words are what kept me moving through the book.

[Shazani]

Frank and intuitive, this book deserves a read. Not the easiest book the understand: the author sometimes puns with words I find hard to capture. But, the rich plots and colorful narrative style easily compensates the obscure puns. 4.5 star!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

My cousin's book, and I loved it.

[Joy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book and could not get into it at all. I finally decided to give up and go on to something else.

[RoseMary Achey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journalist in Kosovo and his translator learn Jihad present in mountains and training suicide bombers.