The Unknown Terrorist
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On Sale:
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12/04/2007
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Formats:
Hardback
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New Page 1
A provocative thriller of a post-9/11 world, from the Commonwealth
Writers’ Prize–winning author of Gould’s Book of Fish and The Sound of
One Hand Clapping.
Gina Davies, a.k.a. “The Doll” is a 26- year-old pole dancer at the Chairman’s
Lounge night club. She prefers the touch of money on her skin to the touch of a
man. She knows her role in a world built on deception—the dancers pretending to
be excited, the men pretending that the women aren’t pretending. But on the
night of Mardi Gras 2007, right after three unexploded bombs are discovered at a
local stadium, The Doll meets up with a darkly handsome stranger for a night of
drugs and sex at his apartment. The next day, the man is identified as an
international terrorist, and she as his accomplice, both spied in a security
video going into his building. And suddenly her world of small, familiar
deceptions implodes into one where lies are out to destroy her.
A novel unlike anything acclaimed author Richard Flanagan has ever written,
The Unknown Terrorist is as compelling as a top-notch thriller, at the same
time driven by the provocative questions we should all be asking in our poisoned
post-9/11 atmosphere. Why is it that our truths are now cloaked in falsehoods?
How is it that money, possessions and power have become our new moral
guideposts? And why is it that the media we count on to expose untruths have
become part of the machine of their propagation?
The Unknown Terrorist marks the first time the internationally acclaimed
Richard Flanagan has been published in Canada. It is a profoundly affecting and
timely debut.
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Author Extras
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Critical Praise for
The Unknown Terrorist
“Remarkable. . . . A meditation on colonialism—
indeed, on history itself—couched
in the story of an English guttersnipe. . . .
A serene, chilling vision of human life as
comparable to the life of fish, ‘swimming in
vast coldness, alone.’”
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The New Yorker on Gould ’s Book of Fish
"The fast-paced narrative builds to a fittingly bloody crescendo, and Flanagan drops astutely cynical observations along the way…A true page-turner as well as a timely, pithy critique of celebrity culture and the politics of fear-mongering."
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Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Flanagan's dystopic tale is raw, timely, cynical, and bleak. Recommended for mature audiences, especially for those unwilling to buy into the mass hysteria of the war on terror."
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Library Journal
"Stunning... Mr Flanagan has turned the story into an armature for a brilliant meditation upon the post-9/11 world....[Flanagan] has written a book that deserves to win him the sort of readership enjoyed by two much better-known novelists with whom he has much in common: Don DeLillo and Martin Amis."
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The New York Times
Reader Reviews from First Look
Flanagan has scored another triumph with this timely story. Highly recommended.
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Stephen (Ottawa, ON)
Flanagan has scored another triumph with this timely story. Highly recommended.
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Stephen (Ottawa, ON)
This brilliant novel is much more than a thrilling page-turner. There are echoes of Hitchcock in the story a simple person innocently caught up in a complex, sinister situation out of her control. And there is the stamp of Dickens in the irony and outrage with a society where coincidence and chance show the most interesting and unexpected connections.
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John (Toronto, ON)
This is a gripping read, though unhappy because of gritty reality in spots. A great book, full of mystery and intrigue. When mixed with authentic human shortcomings, we are reminded of our own less than perfect moments. This is a violent well woven mystery tale with nicely fitted intertwined themes, and the ending, not a happy one, is all too real to those doomed to inhabit the lower end of the social strata.
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Brian (Kingston, ON)
This was slow building ride of terror through the darker sie of Sidney. A city that always seemed innocent and squeaky clean turned dangerous and ruthless through the eyes of the Doll, a character who stays with you but you never really feel like you know her. Tragic, explosive ending leaves you wondering.
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Bree (Pickering, ON)
A twisted tale of love, hate and human nature. Richard Flanagan captures the feelings of one woman mixed up in issues above her head. A well written tale of what happens when you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Filled with similes and metaphors, you have to read to the very last page.
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Kirsten (Gray Creek, BC)
A spell-binding novel.
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Karen (Fredericton, NB)
WOW...what can I say, this category of books but this story kept me enthralled for hours at a time.
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MATHEW (Edmonton, AB)
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Wanting
From the author of the bestselling Gould’s Book of Fish , The Sound of One Hand Clapping and The Unknown Terrorist comes a haunting meditation on love, loss and the way life is finally determined never by reason, but only ever by wanting. In 19th-century Van Diemen’s Land, a young...
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The Unknown Terrorist
Richard Flanagan’s devastating parable has drawn international acclaim for brilliantly capturing the post-9/11 world. In this explosive novel, Flanagan holds a mirror to contemporary society, and in its terrifying reflection we see the image of the Doll, a 26-year-old pole...
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