Veteran journalist Jay Morgan senses that the simmering conflict in Kosovo is about to take on a new dimension when he hears rumors that a mysterious bearded foreigner, bearing weapons and money and preaching Holy War, has appeared in the rebels’ mountain camps. What is this mysterious man’s mission? What new horror has he brought to the city? Together Jay and his translator, the beautiful Alija—who is searching for a missing brother and is herself a victim of the war—race to find this prophet of jihad.

Each danger-fraught foray across the lines and each interview— whether with a rebel commander, Serb sniper, or American spook tasked to evaluate and take out this new threat—brings Jay and Alija closer to each other and to the devastating truth about the conflict in the Middle East. Pitch–perfect and keenly observed, Fleishman’s novel delivers bracing suspense in a tale of substance reminiscent of Graham Greene and Ernest Hemingway.