Jihadi Bride tells the story of a young woman who, disillusioned with the greed and violence in the western world, converts to Islam and travels to the Middle East to become a bride of Islam with the Caliphate. She is told that she will nurse soldiers wounded on the battlefield but when she arrives she is treated brutally and experiences intimidation, violence and oppression. Her father, an employee of an anti-terrorist Canadian organization (isn't that convenient?) risks his life to bring her back to Canada. The book is full of violence and extremism. There are no "good guys' within the Caliphate. And few good guys in the Canadian anti-terrorist organization. The story is edited a big sloppily at times, but it is certainly an engaging read. I do wonder I wonder whether this is an example of bigotry toward Islam or if the depiction of the Caliphate is essentially true. ( )

Mamdouh's ambition served him well, but it would get him into trouble sooner or later. "I prefer more subtle methods of instilling fear".

Jihadi Bride by Alastair Luft

3.5 stars. I think this is a book most people will like. It would also make an excellent Television series. While there are things I did not love, that is mostly due to my own personal tastes. One cannot deny how well written this is and when reading it, one can almost see this playing out on television before you,

This was an interesting read. Jihadi Bride is a deeply disturbing book that I started off loving and then as the book went on, not so much as I did in the beginning.

Erik is a Widower who works special operations. He attempts to keep people from going to and joining, terrorist organizations. He keeps people from being radicalized.

But what happens when the person Erik loves most in the world..his daughter Arial..herself becomes radicalized? This is the subject of this book.

Arial has had a tough life. Her mother committed suicide and though her dad loves her, she is away at college and does not see him all that much. When a sudden tragic incident befalls her while at school, it changes her whole way of thinking. She meets another girl at school, Naomi and slowly, her transition begins.

This is not an easy book to read. It is deeply moving with many tragic events and more violence and gore than I was comfortable with. Yet the book itself was impossible to put down..at least at first.

I will still be recommending this book because, as I said, I think most people interested in this subject will really like this book. It was obviously very well researched. Toward the second half things turn around. The book suddenly morphs into non stop chase sequences, people running for their lives etc. At first it is just Ariel but then her dad decides to go search for her and suddenly he is in all these risky situations too.

The book bumps from Erik to Ariel and what bothered me and made me start to seriously skim, was that both were struggling and running..chase sequences, people killed, Ebola.. it turned into different book then I wanted to read.

This is not the writer's fault. But chase scenes bore me. I am a big fan of the TV show Homeland but even with that, when the show goes into action sequences I tune out. Even if Shakespeare had written this book..I just do not find this type of book to my taste. Has nothing to do with the writing.

But I think some people, who like non stop action and electric and fast paced mysteries may disagree with me and like the second half better then the first!

I'd have preferred it stay dialogue driven and would have liked to see more of Arial's life as she struggles to adjust and realizes she made a mistake. But all the killings and escaping and running and chasing and being chased..that is not for me.

I would absolutely recommend this because it is such a relevant book and it is well written and if you also do not like chase scenes do like I did not, you can still read it and skim those scenes or skip them all together. I did have a strong need to know what happens.

SPOILER:

I would have liked to know about Naomi and what happened to her.

In summary..it is a good book but for me, it was not one I loved during the second half, due to the change in how the book was structured. If you do not have issues with the things I mentioned you will likely love this. Regardless, this seems so ready to be a Television show or even a movie. And I think it would make a good one. 3.5 stars. ( )

Good story, very up to date with the threats and usage of social media etc to gain support for terrorism.
Quite a few violent scenes.
Threat of rape but no scenes with the heroine though vague details of a past incident.
No intimate scenes, these fade to black.
Idea of HEA for the heroine.



ARC. ( )

Jihadi Bride is an action packed, challenging book to read. If it were a movie I think it would get an R rating. There is a lot of graphic violence in this book however it isn't gratuitous. There are references to sexual violence that may be triggering so it's something to keep in mind.

Another thing is that it does deal with extremists who espouse a fanatical form of Islam. There is not a balance to that in the story with Muslims that aren't that way. I think the only one is the hip imam the father meets compared to tons of fanatical jihadis. So if you only think of Muslims as being terrorists, sadly this book will just reinforce that stereotype. I acknowledge that the book is dealing with a lot of realities in our current world, it's just disheartening to see stereotypes being strengthened. The author does try to show some redeeming qualities in the jihadi bride's husband. I won't give too many details to ruin any surprises.

With all this in mind, this is a book about a father trying to redeem himself and a daughter who needs saving. If you're looking for insight into jihadi brides with a balanced view on all Muslims, this is not the book for you. So though I would not read this book again due to the violence, I would recommend it if you're looking for an action packed book to read. ( )