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33rd out of 47 books
—
11 voters
Collaborator of Bethlehem (Omar Yussef Mystery #1)
by
Matt Rees (Goodreads Author)
“Matt Beynon Rees has taken a complex world of culture clash and suspicion and placed upon it humanity.” —David Baldacci, author of The Camel Club
“A beautifully written story. I have walked the streets of Bethlehem with Omar Yussef, smelled the dust and the fear, tasted his food, shared his anger and his hope. His decency is a light in the gloom. I shall not forget him.”...more
“A beautifully written story. I have walked the streets of Bethlehem with Omar Yussef, smelled the dust and the fear, tasted his food, shared his anger and his hope. His decency is a light in the gloom. I shall not forget him.”...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
February 1st 2007
by Soho Crime
(first published 2006)
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Rees, Matt Beynon. THE COLLABORATOR OF BETHLEHEM. (2007). ****. This debut novel introduces Omar Yussef, a teacher of history at a UN-supported school in the city of Bethlehem, on the West Bank. Omar, also known as Abu Ramiz, has been a teacher for many, many years. He is 57-years old, and has become severly disillusioned over the years by the increasing friction among the Israelis, the Arabs, and the Christians. He has endeavored over the years to teach his young students to put aside factional...more
As a voracious reader of mysteries that have a contemporary political bent I always look forward to title suggestions from others. Last week a friend introduced me to Matt Benyon Rees and his protagonist, Omar Yussef. After reading THE COLLABORATOR OF BETHLEHEM the first of four “Yussef” books, I am sold. Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell and others of their ilk have nothing on Mr. Rees who has created an evocative character that allows the reader to enter the byzantine politics of the Palestinian movem...more
This is the first mystery is what promises to be a series featuring Omar Yussef, a teacher at the UN girls school in Bethlehem. Omar is in his fifties and has lived in Bethlehem since he was a child. He lives with his wife Maryam and their son and his family. He has two other children who have left to go abroad. He is a teacher who believes in using reason and judgment rather than just believing what you are told or what you read and he encourages this kind of thinking in his students, sometimes...more
As first novels go, they won’t come much better than this for a reader like me who likes a
mix of a strong plot, good characterization and memorable characters, informative contextual history, good pacing, a balanced blend of action and dialogue which lacks overly thick description, and a story that stimulates my interest in a place and issue and stays with me long after I finish reading it. Most of what I know about the daily lives of Palestinians is gleamed from television news. Beynon Rees ope...more
mix of a strong plot, good characterization and memorable characters, informative contextual history, good pacing, a balanced blend of action and dialogue which lacks overly thick description, and a story that stimulates my interest in a place and issue and stays with me long after I finish reading it. Most of what I know about the daily lives of Palestinians is gleamed from television news. Beynon Rees ope...more
I'm a reader of books about the Middle East, and this mystery set in Bethlehem on the West Bank caught my eye. At first I didn't think I'd like it, but I was quickly drawn into the twists and turns of plot, a few of them shocking, and felt I'd been immersed in Arab-Israeli political tensions in a way I'd never been before. Welsh-born author Rees, a journalist with Time magazine in Jerusalem, chooses as his central character an Arab history teacher at a UN-run girls school for refugees. A man wit...more
As implausible as it sounds Omar Yussef is a man in the middle of an awful situation that you want to meet. Spend some time with. Drink some sa'ada coffee. Talk to about his Bethlehem. Omar brings a unique perspective to murder, to power games and to fanaticism whilst simultaneously providing a human and humane view of life in his Bethlehem. That Bethlehem is a world of conflict within and from without his own society; and the tension that changed viewpoints between generations brings. Where onc...more
A very illuminating first novel by the former Jerusalem bureau chief of Time magazine. He draws a very grim, gritty, and realistic picture of life among the Palestinians in Bethlehem, with clan rivalries, corrupt police, fanatical martyr brigades, and normal families trying to survive in the chaos of a power vacuum. A lowly schoolteacher tries to free a man he knows to be innocent while simultaneously finding the person who must be guilty. He hopes the size and strength of his own clan will keep...more
Apr 03, 2010
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-audio-books,
2010-mysteries
The Collaborator of Bethlehem, A-minus, by Matt Deymon Rees, narrated by Peter Ganim, produced by audible inc. downloaded from audible.com.
Omar Yuset is a schoolteacher now at a girls school. He has had few pupils in his lifetime whom he remembers for their bright intelligence, but George Saba was one. When a “martyr” (terrorist) is murdered, Saba is blamed, because he is a Christian, even though the police don’t really think he’s guilty. Yusef sets about trying to prove him innocent and save hi...more
Omar Yuset is a schoolteacher now at a girls school. He has had few pupils in his lifetime whom he remembers for their bright intelligence, but George Saba was one. When a “martyr” (terrorist) is murdered, Saba is blamed, because he is a Christian, even though the police don’t really think he’s guilty. Yusef sets about trying to prove him innocent and save hi...more
The Collaborator of Bethlehem, isn't a mystery in the traditional sense, but is of a genre of new books in which the mystery is secondary to the characters development and the time and place that the story evolves in. I loved it! If you enjoy this type of story, and not the more formulaic mystery, this is definetly a novel for you to pick up and invest time in reading.
Matt Benynon Rees has created a very life like central character in Omar Yussef a Muslim living in the West Bank. The story very...more
Matt Benynon Rees has created a very life like central character in Omar Yussef a Muslim living in the West Bank. The story very...more
#1 Omar Yussef mystery set in Bethlehem, Israel. Omar Yussef is a fifty-six-year-old history teacher, an alcoholic who's been dry for ten years. Obviously not a devout Muslim, he does the best he can in an ever-changing, violent world to teach his students right from wrong and respect for all. When one of his former students, George Saba, is accused of being a collaborator with the Israelites and murdering one of the local heros, Omar takes a leave of absence from his school and sets out to inve...more
This one came hurtling out of left field and blew me away. It’s a straightforward read packed with considerable insights on Palestinian culture written in a fluid, stylish prose. I was dead set on judging it as a Mideast version of the Patterson rubbish abandoned in booksales but mercifully proved to be more than just your run-off-the-mill genre fiction. The character of Omar Yussef is credible. I appreciated his commitment to educate the youth, his integrity, his passionate efforts to save an i...more
Omar Yussef, a crusty grandfather, refuses to mind his own business. Friends run into trouble in Dehaisha, a refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem, and he looks into the void.
This book is overwhelming in its pathos, and terrifying in its implications. This old schoolmaster, Omar Yussef, almost goes out of his way to avoid finding evidence of murder in Dehaisha, perpetrated, he believes, by a leader of the resistance. Instead he finds clues just lying about, ignored by the very people meant...more
This book is overwhelming in its pathos, and terrifying in its implications. This old schoolmaster, Omar Yussef, almost goes out of his way to avoid finding evidence of murder in Dehaisha, perpetrated, he believes, by a leader of the resistance. Instead he finds clues just lying about, ignored by the very people meant...more
The cover states: An Omar Yussef Mystery and I look forward to future installments from this author. I don't usually enjoy mysteries, but I was fascinated by this story that takes place in the Palestinian refugee camp, near the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, remembered by our carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem". Omar Yussef is trying to solve the mystery of who set up his former Christian student, George Saba, as a collaborator in the death of Louai Abdel Rahmen. It is a winding tale of betr...more
Although presented as a mystery, all the situations in this fascinating book are true stories with names changed. I've read several books trying to answer my questions about why muslims do the things they do, but this book explains what is happening in Israel with such simplicity that most of my questions have been answered. Above all, I learned that a "Palestinian homeland" would just be a land ruled by violent gangs that kill their own people as well as anyone else who questions their dominanc...more
Omar Yussef, a history teacher at the UN school in Bethlehem, is nearing retirement age. When one of his former students, George, a Christian, is arrested for being a collaborator with the Israelis, and another student's husband is killed, he takes a leave of absence to investigate. Finding overwhelming evidence that the Martyrs' Brigade – a gang of cowardly hoods – actually did the killing, he fights to save George despite the overwhelming atmosphere of violence and vengeance that pervades Beth...more
"The Collaborator of Bethlehem" presents us with an unlikely detective, Omar Yussef. Actually, he's not a detective at all, but a grandfather and a schoolteacher in a UN school in the Palestinian territories. He can be short-tempered and impulsive in the conclusions he draws. He can be cranky, and those he is beloved by some, is considered with suspicion and contempt by others.
Setting a mystery in the complex political context of Palestine adds a lot of flavor to the story. I have spent time mys...more
Setting a mystery in the complex political context of Palestine adds a lot of flavor to the story. I have spent time mys...more
I ran across this in my local library in Lebanon, NH quite unexpectedly. After reading a couple of pages at random I was intrigued and brought it home. I like books that are able to transport me to a different culture and show me a view of that culture from the inside rather from my usual spot from the outside. Done well - and this was done quite well - the writer can breathe life into the characters in the book and replace whatever stereotypes I have carried within me with the very human kinds...more
Omar Yussef is a teacher, and a good one. When one of his students from the past is arrested as a collaborator for the Israeli's Omar decides to try and clear him of suspicion by finding the true collaborator.
Thus begins the twist and turns that make this a wonderful read.
It is fast paced yet gives the reader a clear picture of the goings on in this area of the world.
I was impressed by the stories ability to translate the things that make both side one. The truth is that mostly everyone want pe...more
Thus begins the twist and turns that make this a wonderful read.
It is fast paced yet gives the reader a clear picture of the goings on in this area of the world.
I was impressed by the stories ability to translate the things that make both side one. The truth is that mostly everyone want pe...more
I read this for a mystery book group I'm a member of and was particularly interested in it because I visited Israel (and Bethlehem, the location of the book) recently. The author, a former Time magazine Jerusalem correspondent, captures the feel of the Palestinian culture and place very well, and the characterization is well done. What feels lacking is the mystery element until midway through the book, when it becomes suspenseful. Still, I enjoyed it as a revisitation of the issues still ongoing...more
Few detective novels have managed to elicit a profoundly emotional response from me the way The Collaborator of Bethlehem had. For his debut novel, Matt Beynon Rees plumbs the depths of his experience as Time Magazine‘s former Israel bureau chief to create a compelling mystery set within the context of an extremely polarizing Israel/Palestine conflict. This unflinching but compassionate portrait of life in the West Bank gives readers who are only familiar with the region through pithy CNN headli...more
I had great expectation for the book ... from my score ... well yes I was a bit disappointed. It is not the story per se that I did not like, but I had a hard time sometimes to follow.
It would have been much easier for me if I had had access to a glossary. I know, I know it is basic terms that Rees has used but I do not know them ... I could sort of understand but ... it would have more enjoyable, instead I have found this distracting.
The story and the writing were good.
Not sure I would recommen...more
It would have been much easier for me if I had had access to a glossary. I know, I know it is basic terms that Rees has used but I do not know them ... I could sort of understand but ... it would have more enjoyable, instead I have found this distracting.
The story and the writing were good.
Not sure I would recommen...more
I'm always a fan of learning something new while reading fiction and this book did that. I know have a little more understanding of how the Palestinians are reacting societally to their struggle with the Israelis and how suicide bombers come to be. However, this book is slow. The turn of events seemed inevitable and realistic but the main character's involvement was far-fetched.
I don't think I'll continue on with this series. The main character was not compelling and while I was interested in t...more
I don't think I'll continue on with this series. The main character was not compelling and while I was interested in t...more
I should start by saying I rarely read detective novels -- it's not a genre I'm particularly drawn to (too much work!)-- but as I understand it, part of the thrill is being surprised when the criminal's identity is revealed. Well, I wasn't surprised. I also found the book to be a bit overwritten and ponderous; the author is a journalist, and this is his first novel (and it shows!). Still, it is a believable and disturbing depiction of the indignities and violence ordinary Palestinians are forced...more
The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Beynon Rees is the first of a mystery series set in Palestine. Mr. Rees was the Times Bureau Chief during the Intifada. He is a Welshman who has chosen to stay in Palestine and raise his son. His mystery series is based on the real stories he covered as a journalist. I liked that this mystery concentrates on Palestinian culture, and is not an exploration of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict. As the story opens Omar is having dinner with an old student, Geor...more
This is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Omar Yussef, a middle-aged Palestinian teacher in a U.N. school. As a "whodunnit," it is so-so; you don't get to follow the clues to figure out the culprit; and I'd have enjoyed the story more if fewer pages were devoted to Yussef's dithering over whether his work is valuable and whether his ideas put his students in danger. What I really appreciated was the depictions of the conflicts and tensions that fester under the occupation -- impotent...more
Ini adalah buku kedua mengenai konflik Palestin-Israel yang saya baca selepas The Last Testament. Keseluruhannya buku ini buat saya tidak mahu lepaskannya (tapi terpaksa juga baca lambat-lambat kerana saya tidak punya banyak buku).
Mengisahkan tentang cabaran yang dihadapi oleh seorang guru sejarah, Omar Yussef, untuk cuba membebaskan pelajar terbaiknya, George Saba, daripada dijatuhkan hukuman kerana dituduh menjadi orang tengah (atau mungkin perisik) bagi pihak Israel. Dalam cubaan untuk membe...more
Mengisahkan tentang cabaran yang dihadapi oleh seorang guru sejarah, Omar Yussef, untuk cuba membebaskan pelajar terbaiknya, George Saba, daripada dijatuhkan hukuman kerana dituduh menjadi orang tengah (atau mungkin perisik) bagi pihak Israel. Dalam cubaan untuk membe...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
First line: Omar Yussef, a teacher of history to the unhappy children of Dehaisha refugee camp, shuffled stiffly up the meandering road, past the gray, stone homes built in the time of the Turks on the edge of Beit Jala.
When a young member of the Palestinian resistance is shot dead near his home on the outskirts of Bethlehem, George Saba, a Christian, is arrested as the collaborator who led the Israelis to him. As a member of the minority Christian community, he is a convenient scapegoat, but O...more
When a young member of the Palestinian resistance is shot dead near his home on the outskirts of Bethlehem, George Saba, a Christian, is arrested as the collaborator who led the Israelis to him. As a member of the minority Christian community, he is a convenient scapegoat, but O...more
I first heard of this book from an NPR series on writers who set mysteries in particular cities. I liked the idea of a mystery series set on the West Bank. The author is a Welshman who’s been a journalist in the Middle East. This is the first novel in what’s meant to be a series.
I both liked and didn’t like this one. It was a slow read and it was often hard to tell where the story was going. On the other hand, the outcome was not in the least predictable and the author’s version of life in the P...more
I both liked and didn’t like this one. It was a slow read and it was often hard to tell where the story was going. On the other hand, the outcome was not in the least predictable and the author’s version of life in the P...more
Aug 03, 2008
Marieke
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Marieke by:
random find in a bookstore.
Shelves:
palestine-israel,
fiction
i don't like reviewing books and plenty of other people reviewed it. i'll just say: i liked it and i'll definitely read the series. i was impressed with how the author handled the complexities of palestinian history and life as an occupied people...i'm wondering what palestinians would make of it but so far i've only seen reviews by non-palestinians.
i thought the following quotes really exemplify what i consider the author's incisiveness:
the problem of religion:
"Omar Yussef looked up into the be...more
i thought the following quotes really exemplify what i consider the author's incisiveness:
the problem of religion:
"Omar Yussef looked up into the be...more
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I’m an award-winning British crime novelist. Major authors have compared my writing with the work of Graham Greene, John Le Carre, Georges Simenon and Henning Mankell. French magazine L’Express calls me “the Dashiell Hammett of Palestine.”
To research my latest book, a mystery about Caravaggio called A NAME IN BLOOD, I learned to paint with oils and fight with a rapier. I grew a beard and dyed it b...more
More about Matt Rees...
To research my latest book, a mystery about Caravaggio called A NAME IN BLOOD, I learned to paint with oils and fight with a rapier. I grew a beard and dyed it b...more
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“Love is not an option. It's the choice of an idiot who wants to end with nothing, robbed and abused and humiliated.”
—
6 people liked it
“Life is terrorism, so spare me your indignation. Life is one big infiltration of our secure defenses. Some people put bombs on buses and blow them up: those are terrorists. Some people speak to you and their words blow you up: what would you call those people? Life is a condemned cell. . . . That's the only way to protect yourself . . . to understand that you're always under sentence of death and to try to get a temporary remission.”
—
2 people liked it
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