Ahmed, born and raised in war-torn Yemen, is recruited by Al-Qaeda and sent by them to attend college in the US to join a group planning a terrorist attack on nearby Naval Station Great Lakes. During the months before the attack, he falls in love with Fida, a group member also from Yemen, Together they have committed to become martyrs in the name of Islam and thus achieve Paradise in the course of the attack. In pursuit of needed extra cash, Ahmed applies for an extension of his student visa to allow him to work off-campus, and seeks the legal assistance of Sarah and Bruce Benson, retired lawyers now doing only pro bono work in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb on Chicago's North Shore. The developing interactions among Ahmed, Fida, the Bensons, and their very close Israeli friends, Leah and Ari Stern (Ari is an older Mossad agent), bring the story to an exciting conclusion, culminating in the terrorist attack on the naval base. The book explores the beauty and tragedy of Yemen, the Islamic religion and those who would use it to justify terrorism, as well as the effects of love and hate as part of the human condition.