International intrigue, murderous politics, and psychological suspense combine in a stylish literary thriller

An enigmatic Israeli who calls himself Shakespeare -- because he's got a way with words -- finds himself jolted on a sidewalk in Manhattan: Is that who I think it is, he wonders, or am I crazy?

Who he thinks it is, is one of the world's premier terrorists.Someone who murdered his partner. Someone he blames for the fog of despair that's overcome him. And most shockingly, someone Shakespeare's mysterious associates in Tel Aviv tell him had been killed in the desert.

So is Shakespeare cracking up, or cracking the case of a lifetime?

In the hands of esteemed Israeli author Joshua Sobol, the wicked riddle becomes a masterful work that transcends genre: It's a sumptuously written literary novel and a taut spy thriller. It's a moving recollection of a purposeful youth and a graphic account of the hunt for terrorists. It's the story of a mid-life crisis and the endless crisis of the Middle East. It's a work of wild and whimsical word-play and fast-paced, deadly gun-play.

It is, in short, the English-language debut of a mesmerizing writer at the top of his form.