The Human Scale - by Lawrence Wright (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this sweeping, timely thriller, a Palestinian American FBI agent teams up with a hardline Israeli cop to solve the murder of the Israeli police chief in Gaza--from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower and The End of October.

"A layered tale of intrigue and betrayal."--Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March and Horse

Tony Malik, a half-Irish, half-Arab FBI agent based in New York, specializes in tracking money from drug and arms deals. His life takes a dramatic turn when a long-term relationship ends and his job hangs in the balance. Amid personal turmoil, Malik becomes intrigued by his Palestinian father's past. He decides to visit his ancestral homeland for his niece's wedding, accepting a seemingly simple FBI assignment along the way.

Upon arrival in the West Bank, Malik's world is upended when the Israeli police chief is murdered. Initially a suspect, Malik's investigative prowess soon earns him a place in the Israeli investigation. At the heart of the story is Malik's complex relationship with Yossi, the hardline anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the case. They must learn to trust each other because, as they move closer to solving the case, they realize there is no one else they can trust on either side.

Lawrence Wright populates the novel with richly drawn characters: Yossi's daughter studying in Paris, Malik's niece whose wedding is shattered by violence, her peacenik fiancé with ties to Hamas, and a cast of religious leaders, corrupt cops, and militants on both sides. Through these intersecting lives, Wright weaves an intricate tapestry that culminates in the devastating Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

More than a thriller, Wright's novel explores the complex history between Israel and Palestine, revealing the tragic human scale of this long-standing conflict and offering a nuanced perspective on a tragedy that continues to shape the region and the world.

Review Quotes

"The loss of a single life -- the murder of Jacob Weingarten, an Israeli police chief in a West Bank settlement -- sets in motion Lawrence Wright's gripping new novel. . . . Wright's characters represent a wide variety of histories and perspectives. . . . The politics in this book are impossible to ignore; indeed, they're the point. . . . Given the passions raging around the current war in Gaza, Wright's book is a gutsy one to write. To fail as a novelist and become a partisan of one side would read as a betrayal not only of the opposing side, but also of what the best literature does: It both asserts and reconciles our humanity through perspectives that may be far from our own. Wright succeeds in this complex, deeply felt work. He shows that if it is possible to save mankind one life at a time, as the Talmud and Quran affirm, then maybe it is also possible to save our humanity, one story at a time." --Elliot Ackerman, The New York Times Book Review

"In this lacerating novel, Wright draws on years of experience in Israel and Palestine to forge a layered tale of intrigue and betrayal. It is a novel of hard truths; a bitter indictment of the corrupt, cruel leaders on both sides who have caused immeasurable suffering." --Geraldine Brooks; Pulitzer Prize winning novelist

"Wright's The Human Scale, set in Hebron, is a furnace of conflict between Israeli settlers and Palestinian terrorists but also between ordinary Israelis and ordinary Palestinians, an unsettlingly relentless suspenseful portrait of terror, intolerance and cruelty on both sides, on all sides, tempered by humanity, family and love, packed with knowledge and facts, a ticking bomb of a book that explodes in Hamas's October 7 slaughter - this is the first October 7 novel." --Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem

"[Wright] has written a meticulously crafted thriller that is also an ambitious political novel. The book throws a wide net, well beyond the usual confines of a whodunit, crisscrossing time periods and encompassing an array of characters (the women are especially well drawn) whose views reflect every position on the spectrum, from that of Hamas to that of the Israeli settlers. I found myself reading, heart thumping, as though everything depended on it--as though every nuanced perception and complex personality would bring me to an understanding that had previously eluded me...The Human Scale ends, daringly and viscerally, on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters paraglided casually into Israel and unleashed an inconceivably savage attack. Moving at a rapid clip but also full of profound reflections on the vagaries of history, Lawrence Wright's remarkable novel reflects an inescapably harsh reality with realism and compassion. Perhaps the most poignant aspect of the novel is the gradual way Malik and Ben-Gal move beyond politics to a relationship that verges on friendship. The Human Scale offers a broader and more humane vision of the entrenched hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians and the passions that inform both sides than any polemic or nonfiction account I've read." --Daphne Merkin, Air Mail

"Wright delivers a page-turning narrative about events so recent they were covered in yesterday's newspapers." --Minnesota Star Tribune

"Wright, a renowned journalist and novelist fluent in the paradoxes and tragedies of the Middle East, brings all his knowledge and compassion to this profoundly insightful thriller, creating involving, conflicted, and thoughtful characters trapped in horrific predicaments and a riveting story that reveals the deep trauma of Israelis, the brutality of the Israeli occupation, the fury and despair of Palestinians, the opposing religious convictions that stoke and sanctify perpetual violence, and the criminality that funds it. As the action leads inexorably to the October 7 Hamas attack and massacre, Wright considers the scale on which we weigh the value of human lives and the perpetual struggle for peace." --Booklist (starred review)

"Like the universe, The Human Scale begins with a big bang. . . . In a fiction created with what he calls "a mix of compassion and anger," Wright offers a comprehensive view of what Sara Ben-Gal. . . terms "the world capital of hatred." Among Wright's large cast of characters are Jewish fundamentalists and Muslim terrorists, as well as idealists who yearn for harmonious coexistence between two kindred peoples. . . . Nothing is what it seems in a world rife with clandestine collaborators, and drug dealers. . . . Wright's journalistic skills are evident. . . . But The Human Scale is primarily a thriller, with enough violent action as it rides cycles of vengeance to merit an extra box of popcorn. . . . Ripped from the headlines, this is a ripping good story about a fractured world we cannot ignore." --Steven G. Kellman, Arts Alive San Antonio

"Wright's choice of title is a testament to his nuanced understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. . . The Human Scale is part crime novel and part political manifesto. Ending on Oct. 8, 2023, the book is a haunting plea for justice. . . The story is spellbinding." --Foreign Policy

About the Author

LAWRENCE WRIGHT is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a playwright, a screenwriter, and the author of ten books of nonfiction, including The Looming Tower, Going Clear, and God Save Texas, and three previous novels, Mr. Texas, The End of October, and God's Favorite. His books have received many honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.