About the Book:

When Paul Stokes runs out of choices, his only path is betrayal. The fragile peace is holding. Behind the scenes, the Israelis are competing for dwindling water resources as Jordan and Palestine face drought. Daoud Dajani has the solution to Jordan’s water problems and is bidding against the British for the privatization of Jordan’s water network. When journalist Paul Stokes befriends Dajani’s sister, Aisha, British intelligence agent Gerald Lynch realizes Paul offers access to the man threatening to drain Israel’s water supply and snatch the bid from the British. Blackmailed by Lynch into spying on Dajani, his movements seemingly linked to a series of bombings, Paul is pitched into a terrifying fight for survival that will force him to betray everyone around him. Even the woman he loves.

My Thoughts:

As an American who only know of the Israel-Palestine-Jordan region from what I read in the papers and see on the news this was a real eye opener. Olives is a an excellent and accurate picture of  the “Middle East.”  Everyone seems to be related to be related to someone else. The best thing about this book is that I wasn’t really sure who the bad guys were right up until the end. For me that is great because if I can figure out what is going on int he first few pages I put the book down. The characters are so well written I could have been watching a documentary on television instead of reading a book.