The 19th Hijacker: A Novel of 9/11

Many questions tormented Sami Haddad as he pondered his choice, in August of 2001, whether or not to join the 9-ll hijackers. Through a series of tape recordings Sami made in the months before the operation, he told his beautiful and feisty Turkish-German lover, Karima Ilgun, of his first meeting with Muhammad Atta in Hamburg, of his training in Afghanistan under the watchful eye of Al Qaeda's military chief, of his meeting with Osama bin Laden where he swears his oath of allegiance, and of his final months of preparation in Florida where he comes to loathe Muhammad Atta but cannot find the courage to flee. After the attack on 9/11, Kommissar Recht, a rumpled German government investigator, is tasked to ferret out Karima's role, if any, as an Al Qaeda operative. Surviving members of the Al Qaeda cell in Hamburg also suspect Karima is hiding Sami's tapes. To them Sami's recollections are sacred artifacts of what they deemed to be their successful mission, but they fear his presentation of the attack might be something less than heroic. Karima is caught between these two forces, both of which could have terrible consequences for her.