The Bitterness of Olives

Andrew Brown lures us into the belly of the Middle East and plunges us into the lives of two vastly different characters – A retired detective in Tel Aviv and a Palestinian doctor in Gaza City.

 Avi Dahan mourns his beloved wife. Khalid Mansour and his family confront the brutal reality of living in a war zone. They were friends once … or might have been. But the Middle East wrenches them apart and leaves them both floundering in a whirlpool of disappointment, resentment, loss, and betrayal.

A mysterious corpse shows up in Khalid’s emergency room and he feels duty-bound to investigate. Clues hint at an intriguing history and forbidden love. But this is a chaotic war zone, and the details of death do not really matter. Yet, Khalid needs to know about this one, and there is someone who could help him.

Brown’s seventh novel is a stunning, off-the-charts read. The author’s ability to take us right into his characters’ hearts, is matched by the skill of gradually weaving different strands into one another and building the tension to breaking point.

My crystal ball tells me that The Bitterness of Olives is the author’s ticket to the stars. If you read only one book for the rest of this year, make it this novel.

Spoiler alert – I needed a box of tissues.