The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

Vengeance Is Mine: JIHAD Gerald Olsen, Washington House, 2003, $15.50, paperback, 198 pages. The state of Israel is a land that has known many names: Palestine, Canaan and others now obscured by the passage of time. Today it is the world’s most enduring nightmare. For the personnel at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this festering sore had not been their problem until a violent killing at the embassy gate put them in the middle of the next level of horror that threatens Israel and the Middle East. Can it be stopped? Washington’s answer is to send Jake Borg: diplomat, warrior, spy. Can he do it? Gerald Olsen is a retired FSO who spent seven years in Saudi Arabia on a joint U.S.-Saudi Arabian develop- ment project. He lives in Muskegon, Mich., and Orange County, Calif. This is his first novel. A Diplomat’s Progress: Ten Tales of Diplomatic Adventure in and around the Middle East Henry Precht, Williams & Company, 2004, $14.95, paperback, 236 pages. “Henry Precht’s tales are alive with the intense sights and sounds of the Middle East and with the culture of deception and betrayal in which America is now a full partner,” says David Ignatius of the Washington Post about this book. Through the stories — set in Egypt, Mauritius, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel and Palestine, England and Syria — we are taken inside the Cold War and regional strife; we meet religious radicals and rough regimes up close; we negotiate drug deals and participate in diplomatic niceties; we get entangled with the CIA and the secret police of this or that nation; we challenge the “dragons of dogma” over U.S. policy in Iran; and much more. Henry Precht joined the Foreign Service in 1961, and spent the next 25 years working mainly on Egypt, Iran and Arab-Israel affairs. Following retirement, he served as president of theWorld Affairs Council in Cleveland, where he taught international affairs at Case Western Reserve University. He now spends his time writing in Bethesda, Md., and Bridgton, Maine. This is his first book. A Handful of Kings: A Novel Mark Jacobs, Simon & Schuster, 2004, $24.00, hardcover, 274 pages. Former FSO Mark Jacob’s fourth novel is an elegantly written tale of suspense and moral dilemma set in contemporary Spain, Latin America and the United States. It is a story of terrorism, espionage and backroom diplomacy in a modern world that knows no borders. This page-turning thriller follows the story of American diplomat Vicky Sorrell’s fast-paced tour of duty — one where she must decide who the bad guys are, who is lying, and who just might be telling the dan- gerous truth — and illuminates the unexpected ways people betray and defend one another and, ultimately, how they learn to love. Mark Jacobs served as cultural attaché and informa- tion officer in Spain, Turkey and several posts in Latin F O C U S N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 35 SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE AMERICA S I NCE 1 9 7 1 2004 represents our 34 th year helping to maintain America’s fleet of vehicles throughout the world. All of us at D & M consider it an honor to have worked with all of you through these years. We are aware of the importance of your official and private vehicles, forklifts, generators, tools and equipment. We look forward to continuing this service in a professional manner. We are here to help, just ask! Gary Vlahov www.dmauto.com (516) 822-6662; FAX: (516) 822-5020; E-mail: info@dmauto.com