Book Reviews

If you saw the movie Munich, you know exactly what this book is about: the retribution for the Olympic massacre in 1972. And the book reads like a suspenseful thriller. The movie does seem to capture the action-based facets of the book, and I did enjoy it; however, the book offers so much more of what was going through the leader's mind the whole time. It also deals with the constant question: Is this really going to make a difference?

The premise, for those who don't know, regards a commando/counter-terrorist team who goes autonomously into Europe around 1973 (supplied with an especially large bank account) and assassinates people on a list of known terrorists (mainly those behind the Munich massacre). But the same way they're finding the targets allows for them to be targeted as well. The problematic issue arises: once you begin inquiring about people, you leave yourself vulnerable for tracking as well.

It's an exciting, suspenseful, and somewhat disturbing retelling of a dark period in history—although terrorism is anything but over. At one point, they equated things with a many-headed monster (a la Hydra) where a new head (or two) grows in the place where one is eliminated. Combined with that is the acceptance that despite the fact that fingernails grow back, they still need to keep being clipped.

Again, the novel offers much to think about and discuss.