Mindy Belz

I gave up on this after reading about a third of it. The title is misleading--the author is not on the run from ISIS or any terrorists in the Middle East. She is a journalist traveling around visiting people in the region. She has attempted to weave these people's stories into what seems like a decade or more of historical research. It doesn't work--I predict that most readers either want a biographical account or a textbook.

The facts and figures and wealth of data was overwhelming. Due to the presence of the historical data the stories were a bit lost in the middle. They were told in a disjointed manner and with insufficient detail to really understand the lives of the people involved or to relate to them. The stories jumped around and there were so many of them that it created confusion and chaos in my mind. The book was also very long which made for a daunting prospect. Maybe some more advanced scholars will enjoy it--I'm going to give my tired brain a rest!… (más)