"Sharp, biting prose distinguishes this first novel... [Mandelman] deftly blends a murder mystery with a nuanced examination of the intransigent Israeli-Arab conflict."---Publishers Weekly, starred review<BR><BR>"An absorbing and captivating novel that bridges the uncomfortable political gap between the Palestinian and Israeli sides."---Kirkus Reviews<BR><BR>"Mandelman's stories veer from heartbreaking to hilarious, and all of them depict Israel's desperate fragility and the horrific lengths to which its citizens must go to survive."---New York Times Book Review<BR><BR>"Taut, nuanced... a rich multigenerational chronicle of Israel since its birth"---Kirkus Reviews, starred review<BR><BR>"Mandelman... complicates the underside of Israeli culture, teasing out the roots of violence and prejudice in this alternately dark and humorous collection."---Publishers Weekly<BR><BR>"It takes either naivete, chutzpah, blinding self-confidence, testicular fortitude, or perhaps a combination thereof to write fiction such as the title story of this collection... a gutsy and thoughtful writer."---The Jerusalem Report<BR><BR>In 1977, having renounced his Israeli citizenship and withdrawn from his family, David Starkman is living a new life in Canada, haunted by persistent nightmares following his military service as a clandestine assassin. When news reaches him of his father's gruesome murder, he reluctantly returns to his homeland for what he hopes will be the final time.<BR><BR>Back in Tel Aviv, David discovers that his war-hero father was also the author of a controversial play called "The Debba," which was performed only once, in 1946, causing a massive riot. In the lore of the Middle East, the Debba is a mythical Arab hyena that can turn into a man who lures Jewish children away from their families. To the Arabs he is a heroic national symbol; to the Jews he is a terrorist. David learns that his father's will demands that the contentious play be staged within forty-five days of his death. Reluctantly David agrees. Pursued by the security services---and perhaps by the Debba itself---he is forced to reimmerse himself in a life he thought he'd escaped for good. But the heart-stopping climax shows that nothing in Israel is as it appears, and not only are the sins of the fathers revisited upon the sons, but so are their virtues---and the latter are more terrible still.<BR><BR>Under the guise of a breathtaking thriller, Avner Mandelman has written a novel that reveals Israel's double soul, its inherent paradoxes, and its taste for both art and violence. The riddle of the Debba---the myth, the play, and the novel---is nothing less than the tangled riddle of Israel itself.