The Mirage

Starred review from November 21, 2011
Genre buster Ruff (Bad Monkeys) takes the reader through the looking glass into a world where a union of benevolent Muslim states (the U.A.S.) guards against Christian fundamentalist terrorists trying to spread fear and unrest. After the terrorist attack of 11-9-2001 on towers in Baghdad, the story proper begins in 2009, as Homeland Security Agent Mustafa al Baghdadi, witness to the original attack, nearly dies confronting a suicide bomber from Texas named James Travis, aka “the crusader.” The crusader survives the attempt, and his claims that their world is actually a polar opposite distortion of the truth sends Mustafa spinning. Ruff’s exposition to establish the situation is impressively simple: clever, inventive entries from “The Library of Alexandria, A User-Edited Reference Source” are peppered throughout, tweaking Wikipedia and appearing just when readers (or sometimes characters) need them. Among other entries, one finds a long biography of Saddam Hussein, “philanthropist, novelist... and Iraqi labor organizer”; an explication of the “Miranda Warning” rights of U.A.S. citizens; and a chronicle of the 40-year reign of Lyndon Johnson, described as the President of the Christian States of America (C.S.A.) who was born in the Evangelical Republic of Texas; his “Mexican Gulf War” of 1991 pitted Louisiana against an OPEC-backed Texas. Beneath this dubious verisimilitude lies a truth that gives Ruff’s work a sharp satiric bite. As to the book itself, it’s as traditional in its story as it is unconventional in its premise, with a full cast of characters and narrative arc. As the plot thickens, the ideas keep coming, with Ruff revising the history of, among other things, the gay rights movement, David Koresh, and Timothy McVeigh. This is both entertaining and provocative, exactly what the best popular fiction should be. Agent: The Melanie Jackson Agency.

December 15, 2011
Cult favorite Ruff's past novels, including Fool on the Hill (1997) and Bad Monkeys (2007), are all wildly, thrillingly different, but they do share one recurring characteristic: they are total brain-twisters but in a good way. His latest is an alternate history that depicts the U.S. as a Third World country rent by religious strife, while the United Arab States are still reeling from the events of November 9, 2001, when Christian fundamentalists hijacked four planes and took down the Tigris and Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad. In this world, Osama bin Laden is a war hero and senator, while Timothy McVeigh is the revered leader of a rebellious Christian sect. Three Arab Homeland Security agents have their hands full, forced to deal not only with the duplicitous politics of various government agencies but also with suicide bombers and their recent claims that the world they are living in is a mirage. Like Robert Ferrigno in his Assassin trilogy, Ruff enthusiastically upends world history, offering provocative commentary while grounding his story with a highly appealing Muslim cast.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2012
A thriller unusual in its concept, combining politics with an alternate reality. No attacks occur on Sept. 11. The real tragedy happens on Nov. 9, 2001, when terrorists from the Christian States of America (CSA) attack the twin towers in Baghdad. The world is turned upside down and inside out, with the United Arab States (UAS) being the world's dominant power and America a fragmented collection of countries that include the Republic of Texas. The UAS invades and conquers the CSA, but captured prisoners bring rumors that everything the Arabs see is a mirage, that the true superpower is America. Some even claim that "God loves America, not Arabia." Real-life characters show up aplenty but are cast in unexpected lights. Timothy McVeigh and Osama bin Laden, for example, are warriors for the good guys, but at least Saddam Hussein is still a thug. Readers have someone to root for in conventional thrillers, but that is lacking here. Much detail mirrors the West we know, an approach that starts out looking clever but quickly becomes too cute—Gaddafi claiming to have invented the Internet; a Six Flags Hanging Gardens theme park; and a series of self-help books including Christianity for the Ignorant. Germany is a Jewish state, while Palestine belongs to the Arabs. The UAS is a largely tolerant place, where one character even says, "Hey, it's a free country." Another shrugs off the revelation that someone is gay, as if no one cares in the UAS. A few characters, including the heroine named Amal, risk their lives to determine the truth—is their whole world an illusion? The writing is good, but the characters are hard to care about and the plot doesn't feel properly resolved. Not bad, but it won't give you the willies.

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September 15, 2011

On 11/9/01, Christian fundamentalists hijack four jetliners, crashing two into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad and another into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh. Years later, a suicide bomber interrogated by Arab Homeland Security agent Mustafa al Baghdadi reveals the dirty truth: the Arab states' supremacy is just a mirage, and the real superpower is the United States. Okay, the author did well with Bad Monkeys, but this new thriller could go either way, stimulating some readers while outraging others. Your choice; with a 40,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.