I was intrigued by the title of this book and wasn't sure what it would specifically be about. I thought it might tell some anecdotes about ISIS members hiding in a. neighbourhood but wasn't really sure. The topic of Islam and ISIS are both highly controversial and politicized topics and I wasn't sure what approach this book would take. I found Dr Mehlman-Orozco's book to be factual and well written. She provided multiple statistics and discussed in depth the phenomena of Jihadi and in particular how ISIS terrorists are able to recruit around the world. I found the book to dealt with such a timely and controversial topic in a fair manner. My only slight critique is that the relationship to the religion and terrorists wasn't always emphasized, however that's what the underlying rationale for jihadi is. Overall, I feel this was a well researched and thought provoking book. I have since researched Dr Mehlman-Orozco and her impressive resume. Thanks to the publisher for a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This wasn't really what I expected it to be, but it was eye opening nonetheless. The author explores how terrorist organizations recruit people and just how much we might be missing.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I thought this book would be about the threat of radicalization in urban and inner U.S. cities. It's not. It simply is a mashup of news items on incarcerated terrorists and their views. It's also heavily focussed on 'ISIS' phenomena.

Great book. Not what I was expecting at all so was a nice surprise. Easy to read and very very interesting

If you’re interested in foreign policy pertaining to ISIS, and specifically recruitment of terror agencies, this book is for you. I was fascinated by how in-depth the author was and how many examples she was able to provide. She even corresponded with some convicted terrorists for this book and she provides their answers in full detail. It’s also a great reminder that just because someone commits acts of terror in the name of Islam doesn’t mean that Islam, as a whole, is violent. Islam isn’t responsible for the acts of terrorist as Christianity isn’t responsible for the KKK.

The way Dr. Mehlman-Orozco was able to reach out to so many inmates and then using her knowledge on subjects to speak in laymans terms was extremely effective for me. I enjoyed reading something from an expert that is written in such a way that I can understand.

Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco has written extensively about human trafficking. As she looked into recruiting by terrorists and compared human trafficking, she found many similarities. In The Jihadi Next Door: How ISIS is Forcing, Defrauding, and Coercing Your Neighbor Into Terrorism, she draws parallels between the techniques of human traffickers and terrorist organizations.



Both criminal groups target vulnerable, lonely populations. They promise belonging, fulfillment, and escape. And in both cases, the promise does not measure up. Human traffickers promise glamour, job opportunities, or escape from poverty. Terrorist organizations promise much the same, but with a veneer of religion.



This last point ends up being the focus and, in my mind, the downfall of Mehlman-Orozco’s book. She wants to make the point that Islamic terrorists are all about power, and not about religion. A sampling:

“Religion is the veneer used by war profiteers to recruit disposable people into terrorism.”

“A terrorist uses religion or social movements to give them the facade of legitimacy.”

“These terrorist organizations have no genuine affinity or interest in the causes or religions they latch on to, they are simply used as a tool to rationalize and legitimize their criminality and self-interest.”

“This isn’t about Islam. These terrorists are not practicing Muslims, despite what they profess.” “

“Ultimately, when we think of ISIS there should be absolutely no association with religion because that is nothing more than the facade they want everyone to believe in.”

ISIS’s “ criminal organization has nothing to do with Muslims or Islam.”

I completely buy her premise that, like human traffickers, terrorists target the most socially and psychologically vulnerable. But she hammers the “Islamic terrorists are not Muslim” point so long and hard that it sounds like she's trying to convince herself of it. Seriously, how can anyone who reads the news or sees ISIS or Al-Qaeda coverage seriously believe there is no association with religion, that they have nothing to do with Muslims or Islam? A minority sect, maybe. Violent dissenters from the mainstream of their faith, sure. But not driven by religion? It just sounds ridiculous. I don't buy it. I think this emphasis really weakened her argument. Even many of her personal examples, in which she tries to distinguish between the social reasons for Westerners joining up with Muslim terrorists, as opposed to religious motivations, ring hollow.



Are there good, peaceful Muslims in the world? Of course. Most Muslims are peaceful, decent people. Do some Muslims believe their faith compels them to make war on non-Muslims? Obviously. To believe otherwise is total denial of reality.





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

4* Warts and all book about indoctrination, about the US government's part in it all.

The author did so well to choose a deliberately provocative title for her book, as it made me wonder what on earth she might have written, wonder how prejudiced she might be (because she'd have to be, right, to come up with a title like that?) and how she came to her conclusions. It's one of the most eye-opening books I've read this year, and possibly in my entire 50 years.

This author's an academic and a RL person, not a politician, so she doesn't have anything to lose by being to upfront and open about the US government's own part in what's happened to their country, and to the world. It's a bit Team America, World Police, tbh and she echoes many thoughts that non-academic me has on the US. She's not afraid to criticise and call out her country and its actions, and also to clarify what are the true teachings of Islam and clarify what is not true Islam, or what is possibly subjectively interpreted Islam on behalf of terrorists worldwide, and I think she should be admired for how far she's gone. She's an educator, a wife, a mother and has a passion for what she believes in, is how her book comes across.

I think that in her bid to learn more herself, and educate her students and readers, she's gone deep, deep into her research. She jokingly mentions at one point that she wouldn't be surprised if her googling hasn't brought her to the attention of the FBI, and I wouldn't be surprised if she did some day get a knock on the door, as she's been in one-on-one correspondence (vetted, of course) with perpetrators of terrorism, both proven and possibly proven in the eyes of the US government, but not in the eyes of the perpetrators, their friends and their family, and many have been very open. Of course, stuff gets redacted and edited, but she's gone where many people wouldn't have gone in trying to get answers about the how and why of radicalisation/indoctrination. I think there's likely to be a pretty thick file on her, tbh.

She quotes US, French, Danish, British, Georgian and other examples of terrorism and points out the common themes, but also shows how these themes arise, and our - as individuals, as a country, as a government - roles in what's happened to our countries. She's refreshingly not all US-pro, but is happy to point out where her country has erred, and where it's... manipulated things for what it likely sees as the greater good. It's made me really wary of visiting the US as a non-Caucasian person and some of what she says corroborates my mixed-race son's experience of visiting the US as a newly qualified teacher, and being questioned time and time again about his occupation, simply because he has a vague Arabic look about him (he's half Asian, half Caucasian).

I admire her persistence, her courage, her determination to get things from the horse's mouth, and how open she's been in her support and her criticism. I devoured this book when I initially expected to skim it. It's a book that could and should be part of the curriculum, because it's all about education, being informed and having the courage to stand up. It's about prejudice, unjustified and perhaps justified to some, that leads into decisions that have changed history.

Is it an easy book to read? No, because it's very, very detailed. There are images and descriptions of beheadings by child soldiers, some of whom were described as toddlers and young children (the toddler mentioned mimed a throat being slit, and the other child, under the age of 8, I think, carried out the deed in the name of Allah, apparently). There's mention of the many journalists and innocents killed. Mention of Muslims killing Muslims, and tricking their fellow Muslims into revealing that they're of a different caste, who're then murdered in cold blood. There are detailed atrocities in this, and it did make me leave the book a few times to be able to get the vivid images out of my mind. Some of the names of the people killed are universally recognised, if you've seen the news over the last few years, and the author has spared no details.

It's another book that's made me lose respect for the US, and be more wary of it than ever. And, I think the potential for more damage to the US, and to the world, rests with its current government and policies. It takes so little to make a terrorist, because of apathy, demoralisation, marginalisation and a plain lack of education - when and how will this be tackled, and by whom?

ARC courtesy of SkyHorse Publishing and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

This is a very accessible introduction to the criminological view of Isis recruitment. Its audience seems to be youth, or others who are coming to the topic without much background in news analysis or current events. Many chapters end with platitudes which may be distracting to the adult reader.

There are some really interesting ideas within. Mehlman-Orozco comes from a background of working with sex trafficking victims and offenders, and makes much of the parallels between deceiving and recruiting vulnerable youth into sex work and using similar tactics to draw teens into terrorism. She also believes that Isis is nearly unrelated to Islam, just using religion as a cover for criminality. Thus the religious term "jihad" should not be used to describe Isis' activities, notwithstanding her own title.

This is a lighter, more basic treatment of the topic than I had expected, but might be a good fit in a high school classroom or similar setting. Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for the opportunity to review an advance copy.

I found this subject so interesting. The fact that Americans with no connection to any terrorist group could be recruited pretty easily is astonishing to me and believable all at once. Criminologist/Author Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco explains the precise patterns that make average Americans vulnerable to recruitment. Those patterns are not what you'd think they are.
In the right hands, this theory may allow anyone to see the signs earlier than before, and this may prevent future terrorism around the world.