The Black Widow

Начало книги

The black flags will come from the East, led by mighty men, with long hair and beards, their surnames taken from their home towns.

— THE HADITH

Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life.

— MURIEL SPARK, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE

I COMMENCED WORK ON THIS NOVEL before the Islamic terrorist group known as ISIS carried out a wave of shootings and bombings in Paris and Brussels that left more than 160 people dead. After briefly considering setting aside the typescript, I chose to complete it as originally conceived, as though the tragic events had not yet occurred in the imaginary world where my characters live and work. The similarities between the real and fictitious attacks, including the links to the Brussels district of Molenbeek, are entirely coincidental. I take no pride in my prescience. I only wish that the murderous, millenarian terrorism of the Islamic State lived solely on the pages of this story.

Читать дальше →