As promised, this is a murder mystery wrapped up in a conflict that has lasted centuries. The author was able to provide background and information about a topic many of us know only superficially while giving us an interesting novel with rich characters and realistic plot points. A great book; definitely worth reading.

For once, you can honestly say this is a story "ripped from the headlines:. Set in the West Bank territory in the Middle East in the days leading up to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Wright describes the hopeless treadmill of violence and escalation between Israel and Palestine, interweaving history and politics into a fast paced story of the people caught up in the bloody whirlwind. Wright is one our best journalists and has written extensively on the Middle East, but it also turns out he can write a compelling thriller.

This novel got off to a slow start for me. I was expecting a thriller but I feel it is more of a book concentrating on the history and current relationships of the Israel Palestine complex. The plot often slowed with additional background information provided. For someone who has not paid attention to the area, this might be an enlightening book. Wright does a good job of building the characters so we understand the intense feelings and relationships. While there is a murder, it seems to be a means to an end, getting characters together who would not otherwise do so. This is a novel for readers looking to gain understanding of the situation in that part of the Middle East before the latest escalation of deadly action. It is not a novel for those looking for an engaging thriller.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Tony Malik is an FBI agent visiting Palestine to attend a wedding and to meet relatives from his father’s side of the family. Soon after Malik arrives, an Israeli police chief, who had reached out for FBI assistance, is murdered. Malik and an Israeli cop investigate the murder.

The mystery of the murder is really tangential to the actual point of this book. Malik, as an outsider, serves as a device for introducing the reader to the history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He also comes into contact with people from both sides of the conflict, and thus exposes the reader to varying points of view. I found the book interesting, but I might have preferred it as nonfiction.

The author’s frustration with the situation is summed up in the Acknowledgements:

“One cannot hope for an end to the strife without acknowledging the separate histories that each side claims.”

“… whenever a real opportunity for a breakthrough arises it is incinerated by the killers who cling to the fantasy that their enemies can be ethnically cleansed or exterminated.”

“ Until the extremists and ideologues are pushed out of power, the conversation about moving on from the conflict will always be stillborn.”

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Tony Malik, an FBI agent from a Palestinian American family is grievously injured as a demolitions crew attempts to deactivate a bomb identified in an airport suitcase. He awakes with a traumatic brain injury and puzzling and infuriating momentary lapses in short term memory.
The Bureau keeps him on staff, and in an attempt to give him something harmless but intriguing to do, sends him to Hebron in Israel in response to an oddly worded request from a local policeman.
Malik arrives to find that the cop has been murdered, and a wide and wild collection of blame, finger pointing, confusion, and hostility is hampering the investigation into the death.
As a parallel to the Israeli cops, Malik meets his father's uncle and a wide collection of other relatives. The family is preparing for a wedding, and Malik is welcomed and warmly included in early celebrations.
The novel focuses on the search for the murderer and the enigmatic notes left by the murdered cop. Malik realizes there is more at stake than meets the eye. And a careful attention to chapter headings gives the reader important clues about the overall situation in real life Israel at the time of the fictional events
The author includes a great deal of historical and present day information about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. At times these non fictional interludes tend to disrupt reading of the flow of action as the investigations continue.
Thanks to Alfred A Knopf and NetGalley for the advance copy and the opportunity to review

From the opening paragraph, I was gripped by timely piece.
Lawrence Wright is an amazing writer!
I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

I told myself I couldn't add any additional books to my TBR pile but then I came across The Human Scale and just couldn't resist its description. That's how I found myself reading this book, and WOW, I am not disappointed! I understand the controversy surrounding the book as people tend to have strong feelings about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, but I found the book compelling. It's a fictional account, meant to provoke thought and, perhaps, help readers consider alternate theories and beliefs. For me, I was intrigued by this concept and I allowed the book to move me in this way. I didn't feel the author was trying to steer me toward one set of feelings or beliefs over another. Rather, the book simply introduced characters and conflicts from a human perspective and allowed everyone to be looked at through a lens of humanity. An enjoyable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a fictional account of murder, which murder mysteries are a new genre for Lawrence Wright. I have read most of his nonfiction work and he does meticulous research for his books. My only complaint is this a long book, and it takes some dedication to stay with the story

Showing the Arab/Israeli conflicts and similarities between them, The Human Scale introduces us to Tony Malik, an Arab American FBI agent who is recovering from a terrorist attack and in Israel to attend a family wedding and to Yossi Ben-Gal, an Israeli police officer dealing with the violent death of his police chief Joseph Weingarten in Hebron on the West Bank. Malik is drawn in to help Yossi investigate the murder and the story takes us through much of the violence and hatred that led up to October 7th. Both compelling and disturbing, this book shares the mindset of both men and how they work their way through things. I want to thank NetGalley, Knopf Publishing and Lawrence Wright for the opportunity to read a compelling book both disturbing and thought provoking.

In a land torn apart by ideology can either side live without enemies?

FBI agent Tony Malik is the sole survivor of a bomb explosion in Jordan that has left him with multiple injuries: one functional eye and a traumatic brain injury that has left him with inconsistent memory are the ones that are most threatening his ability to return to his job. His superiors would just as soon he opt for early retirement with full disability benefits, but Tony desperately wants to stay on and is downplaying the extent of his problems. His girlfriend has left him, he has no immediate family left...the job is what he thinks will provide his motivation to go on. With plenty of time on his hands while decisions about his future are being made, Tony starts looking into his late father's history (about which he knows little and has never explored) and discovers that not only is his father's twin brother still alive back in Hebron, he has a daughter about to marry. Tony decides to contact the family he has never met and travel to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory to attend the wedding. When he visits his boss in an attempt to signal his return to work the response is tepid, but when he mentions his plan to visit Gaza his boss asks him to do the agency an unofficial favor (which, he hints, could help Tony's prospects at the FBI). A local police chief there has reached out to the FBI with concerns, and Tony is tasked with making contact with the man. Shortly after Tony does so, the police chief is brutally murdered and Tony finds himself caught up in the aftermath of the killing. On top of the ever-present tensions between the Israeli settlers looking to lay claim to more land for their people and the Arabs who have long lived there, there is a powerful rabbi who believes that the entirety of the West Bank (and beyond) belongs to the Jewish people and should be purged of all Arabs, the rivalry over control which exists between the local police, the IDF, Shin Bet and the Palestinian police, and the opposing views amongst the citizens of what Israel's future should hold. Tony and Yossi, the man who is now in charge of the local police, reluctantly join forces to search for the chief's killer as the calendar approaches what will prove to be a fateful date....October 7, 2023.
The Human Scale is both an old school thriller and a fascinating look at the cultural divide that exists as it has existed for decades between the Israeli and Palestinian people. The horrific events of October 7 did not unfold in a vacuum, and those interested in learning more about the conditions that led up to that terrible day will find much to explore here. Author Lawrence Wright, who as a journalist has covered the Middle East, has created a rich assortment of well-developed characters who together tell the story of a region that has been dominated by much animosity and conflict for generations. The flow of the story is at times dragged down by the sheer amount of factual data that in interwoven with the plot, but at the same time those facts add much to the quality of the read. There are weighty themes within these pages as well as relatively even-handed historical analysis; it is by no means an escapist thriller, and readers' knowledge of what will transpire on October 7 contributes to the emotional impact as the story heads towards that dark day. Readers of authors like Don DeLillo, Daniel Silva and John Le Carré will find much to like with this novel, as did I. My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for allowing me early access to this complex and informative saga in exchange for my honest review.

A political thriller that leads up to the devastating and cowardly Hamas attack on October 2023, The Human Scale provides an engaging encapsulation of history between Israel and Palestine but the very real tragedy of the deadly terminus downgrades the fictitious murder mystery from a clever whodunnit into a trite who-cares.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright, The Human Scale builds to the fateful Hamas attack by giving the ages-long conflict a fresh viewpoint through the eyes (or in this case, eye) of American FBI Agent Tony Malik. Wright has Malik on Israeli soil following the murder of a Gaza police chief. Malik represents the consummate stranger-in-a-strange-land scenario allowing Wright the ease to bounce through history starting with biblical times to lay the foundation for the hatred of two similar peoples, while showing the relevance to present day.

This historical tug-of-war becomes a deep and enlightening read. Yet, Malik’s investigation is nearly by-the-numbers and nearly becomes trivial as the other characters Wright creates - such as Yossi Ben-Gal, the police officer leading the investigation; his daughter, Sara; Dina, a Palestinian niece Tony recently met; and her fiancé, Jamal Khelil, an Arab freedom fighter seeking peace - all add to the stronger narrative of the tribal conflict.

Alongside the historical and fictional plot lines, Wright casts both sides as impartial as possible. However, as the countdown gets closer to that fatal October deadline, that impartiality tips. Wright expertly allows the reader to personalize the measure of weight in those scales. While Wright shows both the hurt and injustice, he also displays an all-encompassing irrationality of fear and hatred - for Jew and Arab alike.

The wrapping of a murder mystery around and within the Hamas attack serves as sugar on this spoonful of medicine. Whereas Wright has an obvious knack for the historical intrigue he pulls back and tempers the flood of dates and names with the security of genre fiction. And The Human Scale is a full, attractive read. Yet, and again, the historical intrigue is where Wright shows his strength. The late-great (can’t believe I have to write that out) Nelson DeMille achieved a similar path in Night Fall, his piece of historical fiction that ties together the TWA Flight 800 conspiracy with 9/11. However, Tony Malik is no John Corey. Right?

The Human Scale is a simple story dropped into a wasteland of confusion, human stubbornness, and epic suffering. Lawrence Wright provides a master class in Middle Eastern civics and like all good teachers, breaks it down into fun-sized bites. However, the overall mystery could have equally been a full-sized treat.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the early access.

I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an homest review.

The story begins with Malik, an FBI agent, in the Middle East who is injured after the disarming of a bomb doesn't work and the bomb explodes. Jump forward to NYC when Malik has been released from the hospital and is trying to get back to work. Malik decides to go to Israel to visit for wedding of his cousin. Once he arrives all sorts of events happen with him initially being charged with a crime. After being released, he begins working with Yossi, an Israeli police investigator. He becomes in looking into the murder of the police chief.

Read along as Malik and Yossi start their investigation and learn of all the roadblocks that were put in place. Discover wgo the killer was suspected to be and how he was associated with Malik.

Discover the istory of two opposing groups who were fighting each other ans what each one believed supported their right of owning the land. Read and discover how this how ends and what event is detailed what is real at this time.

The story provides a lot of information and has you wondering why this is still going on. This story realing makes you think and draw your own conclusion.

Fact and fiction, past history and present circumstances meld together in this novel by Lawrence Wright, staff writer for The New Yorker and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower. The Human Scale is a fulfilling read for both mystery and political thriller fans as well as readers interested in a retrospective of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian state. The storyline is taut, the characters are tense, and the setting is explosive. The plot is fiction based upon reality with a clear aura of hopelessness.
Palestinian American FBI agent Tony Malik, half Irish, half Arab, and Yossi Ben-Gal, an Isreali police officer, become unlikely partners trying to solve the murder of the Israeli police chief in Gaza.
Malik, having been injured on the job and with his career going forward in question, travels to the West Bank to attend his niece’s wedding and to visit his father’s birthplace while working on an FBI assignment. The New York agent gets caught up in the investigation of the police chief’s murder, first as a suspect and then, due to his investigative skills, with the reluctant acceptance of Yossi, the anti-Arab officer put in charge of the investigation. Yossi learns that the murdered police chief did not believe he could trust anyone, including the police, so he and Malik form a team with only each other to count on and trust. Yossi’s daughter, a student in Paris, visits her father and becomes immersed in the violence stemming from the murder but always at a boiling point. Malik’s niece is to marry a man who had connections to Hamas in the past and is now accused of the murder,
The story is told from the perspectives of the Israelis and the Palestinians. The history of both sides, the experiences each side has endured, the prejudices they have all faced, is told in graphic detail. The telling of the history of the region along with characters who are all as complex as is their situation, bring the story home. It is important and serious and even the warmth of the characters, their love for family, their celebrations, or the friendship that evolves between Yossi and Tony never lessens the gravity of the dilemma they all face. Murderers, corrupt police officers, misguided zealots, innocents, and the righteous all exist in space limited in size and each believing it is their given right to own. The anger, the hatred, and the retributions all climax with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that is fictionalized yet could not be more vivid or realistic.
The author tells an illuminating tale with a narrative that weighs questions while depicting characters that bear witness to the fragility of life. The Human Scale succeeds in affirming how unlikely peace will ever be in the Middle East.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Knopf for an advance copy of The Human Scale. This is my honest review of Lawrence Wright’s book.

This is a new to me author and I was intrigued by the blurb for this book. What I hadn't expected was that it would be almost a third of the way into the story before the two main characters met or the amount of time that was devoted to the historical information of the area where the story takes place. I found myself skipping parts in order to get to the meat of the story, the case of who had killed the police chief.

"The Human Scale" by Lawrence Wright is a literary masterpiece that deserves nothing less than a five-star review. Wright's storytelling prowess is on full display as he delves into the complex intricacies of human nature and societal dynamics. His ability to weave together intricate narratives with factual accuracy is truly remarkable.

In "The Human Scale," Wright masterfully explores the delicate balance between Palestinians and the people of Israel challenging readers to rethink their own perspectives on how we live and interact in a rapidly evolving world. Each chapter is a carefully constructed analysis that offers profound insights and thought-provoking commentary. It delves into the issues of the present as well as past actions.

What makes this book stand out is Wright’s meticulous research and engaging prose. He presents compelling arguments supported by comprehensive data and real-world examples that captivate the reader's attention from beginning to end. Wright's narrative style is not only informative but also deeply engaging, making complex topics accessible and enjoyable.

The characters are compelling and meticulously developed. The author presents each character with a comprehensive and balanced perspective, allowing them to perceive both their positive and negative traits. The setting and scenes are exceptionally detailed and descriptive, providing the reader with profound insight into the narrative.

THE HUMAN SCALE is an absolutely outstanding novel, one I can enthusiastically recommend.

With one major reservation.

Lawrence Wright is a fine reporter, an excellent historian, and an outstanding author of nonfiction. But as so often happens when a writer from that background turns his hand to fiction, the reporter and the historian gang up on and overwhelm the novelist.. In a novel, the drive of the narrative is everything. The factual background and the historical context matter only when they add to that drive.

In THE HUMAN SCALE, Wright all too often allows his absorption in history and context to overwhelm the narrative to the point of burying it entirely. And that's a shame, because it's a terrific narrative when he allows it to run. A ten or twenty percent reduction in the length of this book by cutting out the background explanations not strictly necessary to understanding the narrative would have made this an extraordinary novel. As it is, it's merely outstanding, but that's still more than good enough to earn its five stars.

As one of the many people who is confused, saddened, and frequently overwhelmed by the situation in the Middle East, I thought The Human Scale by Lawrence Wright might help me out. I am not up to reading a vast litany of historic facts, and I didn’t want a totally one-sided overview of the situation…so a fictional account written by a well-regarded (Pulitzer Prize-winning) author sounded like just the ticket. Wright, a staff writer for The New Yorker, is affiliated with the Center for Law and Security at New York University School of Law, and is perhaps best known as the author of Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, published in 2006.

New York-based FBI agent Tony Malik, son of a Palestinian father and an Irish mother, decides that the end of a long-term relationship and the precarious future of his job is the perfect time to go to his father’s ancestral homeland for his niece’s wedding. The FBI asks him to perform what seems like a simple assignment while he is there. When he arrives, the Israeli Police Chief has just been murdered, and Malik is a suspect. There are lots of complications: the wedding is overshadowed by violence, the intended groom has ties to Hamas, there are corrupt cops galore, and the whole thing seems like an insurmountable mess. Yossi, the extremely anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the investigation, learns to work with Malik as the two men come to learn they can’t really trust anyone on either side – except the other. 

Tons of familiar events are noted, up to and including the Hamas attack on Israel in October, 2023, and I am sure I was not the only reader looking for some hope along with the exploration of the unending tragedy this religious and political conflict continues to reveal. Along with the many characters in the story, there is a ton of factual information and history woven throughout. A difficult and challenging read, it is also a very entertaining thriller. Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage & Anchor as well as NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review. Five exhausted stars.

Reworking the gruff, stoic, but always marvelous Toshiro Mifune as YOJIMBO into something more palatable for western audiences, Sergio Leone managed to upset traditional genre lovers with a Spaghetti flavor, albeit without sauce. Delivering Clint Eastwood in his first starring vehicle, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS followed in '64 much of what YOJIMBO established three years earlier. A man with no name arrives in a town, hiring out his services to both warring factions who're looking to gain control, while playing the opponents against each other. Throwing A FISTFUL OF SHEKELS onto THE HUMAN SCALE, an FBI agent on the fringe arrives in Hebron, center mass of a conflict that's been burning forever, two societies that draw meaning from death. A place where the cause matters more than life, and death is always awaiting a careless move. Can one American with a DEATH WISH and ties to both sides help solve a brutal murder and get payback? But this isn't a crime. Not like Agatha Christie. This is Israel. It's terror.

Out in the pouring rain of animosity without an umbrella, one Tony Malik, American, half-breed and the best of the best in the anti-terror squad in the NYC FBI Field Office, should be taking it easy to recoup from a huge bomb blast in Jordan. Malik is familiar with the Middle East, though never Palestine or Israel, and 'easy' is not in his vocabulary. While enjoying plausible deniability via a cousin's wedding, Malik is armed with a name and an eye for seeing what's missing. It remains to be seen whether that is enough in a region drowning in drugs and black-market weapons. Knocking heads with Mossad, Shabak, politicians, the IDF, terrorists, and a small hicktown police department in the middle of an ancient strife, the realities of criminal investigations loom large; evidence grows cold, people disappear, memories fade. After all, occupied land is a place where force is valued and hesitation can be fatal. THE HUMAN SCALE basically tries to find a path from one piece of data to another and hopes to eventually uncover a pattern. Or perhaps not, as nothing defeats detecting like the randomness of human nature. And in the blood and sand of the Middle East, there's no rhyme or reason, only bullets, bombs, and baklava.

Chomping through much of the mess between Israel and Palestinians and trouble in the Middle East, including the Six Day War, PLO, Arafat, Oslo Peace Accord and Bibi Netanyahu, THE HUMAN SCALE is somewhere between love letter to Israel and condemnation of Israeli policies in the modern world. Nonetheless, THE HUMAN SCALE is a balanced account of the eternal rivalries of Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, Hamas and PLO; the headache and back and forth between two tribes making claim to an ancient land and fighting it out. Righting wrongs, fighting fire with fire. Hate with hate. Violence with violence. It is draining and difficult to keep at it, akin to watching worrisome news broadcasts all day long. Every hour, every minute. Thus, THE HUMAN SCALE is burning up valuable real estate, the first two-thirds being background, trudging along, rehashing history, exploring current events and figuring out the future. The reader is torn, part wants to leave this thing behind as it is and never return. The other: dive in deeper. Thence, THE HUMAN SCALE gets hella interesting when it comes to figuring out the murder mystery. Not quaint at all, THE HUMAN SCALE broadly proclaims that the peace process is a circular route leading nowhere, that whenever peace is near, a spoiler will arise, and that the best thing about the Middle East is the food. Partially responsible for penning 1998's THE SIEGE, the author impresses through THE HUMAN SCALE that a man without friends is a man in trouble, the FBI exploits FACEBOOK as an investigative tool, and that the Middle East Golden Rule is to do unto others before other do unto you. Asking what is the worth of one human life and whether the holy land will always be the field of battle in the name of God, THE HUMAN SCALE is definitely food for thought. As such, THE HUMAN SCALE deeply immerses the reader in the quicksand of ethnic hatred, a book charged with smoldering electricity, ready to hurl a lighting bolt. Mind the voltage and try to catch this one.

The setting is the West Bank with its complex and complicated history, unending land and religious strife between Israelis and Palestinians, and human reality of survival and corruption. This is the scene into which American FBI agent Tony Malik, nursing his own personal and professional challenges and whose father was Palestinian, decides to visit his ancestral homeland and attend a cousin’s wedding. He’s asked to undertake a simple FBI assignment since he’s going to be there. Then the Israeli police chief is murdered and he is a suspect. There is so much to parse and understand about the complicated history, politics, relationships, and most importantly, the hardship, struggles and hopelessness, as well as drive and motivation of both Palestinians and Israelis living in close proximity, yet worlds apart. The author does a good job with the setting, history, major characters, and storyline. There was a significant amount of history, information, and multiple characters which sometimes felt like the author had created too large a scope. Overall, this was definitely a good read with a great sense of place and time. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Too much of the time I felt like I was reading a textbook instead of a novel. In my opinion, the author Lawrence Wright should have chosen one or the other and then gone full out to tell what he has to tell. As it is, the novel The Human Scale just didn't keep my interest.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.