Winner of the 2011 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Crime Novel
In Middle East lore the Debba is a mythical Arab hyena that can turn... read full description
In Middle East lore the Debba is a mythical Arab hyena that can turn... read full description
reviews
Jan 01, 2012
Shomeret
rated it: 
This is from the perspective of an American Jew who was brought up to believe that Israel is the Holy Land which is not like the other nations. My grandmother was born in Teveria (Tiberius) in 1905. She had a deep abiding love for Israel and kept in communication with her relatives who still lived there. When I went to Israel at the age of sixteen with my family, I kept a travel diary. I met some of my cousins. One was an actress who was part of the Israeli military's entertainment corps. I w
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Oct 23, 2011
Mal
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Murder in Tel Aviv: A Superb Novel Digs for Roots in Israel's Modern History
As an American Jew and both secular and far more progressive than the self-appointed leadership of the U.S. Jewish community, I’ve often wondered how the current intractable standoff between Israelis and Palestinians came about. “It’s obvious, you’ll say. “Jewish immigrants from Europe settled on Palestinian land,” and of course that’s true. But doesn’t it seem unlikely that every Israeli became an Arab-hater s More...
As an American Jew and both secular and far more progressive than the self-appointed leadership of the U.S. Jewish community, I’ve often wondered how the current intractable standoff between Israelis and Palestinians came about. “It’s obvious, you’ll say. “Jewish immigrants from Europe settled on Palestinian land,” and of course that’s true. But doesn’t it seem unlikely that every Israeli became an Arab-hater s More...
Jan 13, 2011
Melissa
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The Debba by Avner Mandelman is part thriller, part historical novel, part political murder mystery set in Israel in the 1970’s. David Starkman has emigrated from Israel to Canada, renounced his Israeli citizenship and cut off contact with his parents. The gruesome murder of his father, a national hero, brings him back and an unusual request in the will keeps him in Israel. David must stage a play written by his father within 45 days. And unusual happenings force him to find his father’s kille
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Dec 24, 2010
Joe
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Do not expect to better understand the situation in the Middle East after reading this book. Perhaps if you are from there, but as I am not I found it only added to my despair of what has been transpiring for the last hundred years.
One self exiled Israel receives word his father has died and he must come home to handle the affairs. His father as it turns out is a War hero who saved the day in the 67 war. His son who has been living in Canada is an ex assassin for the Israelis which has caus More...
One self exiled Israel receives word his father has died and he must come home to handle the affairs. His father as it turns out is a War hero who saved the day in the 67 war. His son who has been living in Canada is an ex assassin for the Israelis which has caus More...
Sep 07, 2010
Stuart
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If you're an Israeli or know a good deal of the history of Israel, this novel will undoubtedly appeal more than if you don't. You might not even find it believable unless you know Israel well. The plot hinges on a national hysteria over a minor production of a very minor play written just before the creation of the Israeli state. Yes, in Israel art can (or could in the 1970s, when this novel takes place) have a major national emotional impact.
Getting beyond the plot, The Debba tri More...
Getting beyond the plot, The Debba tri More...
Dec 07, 2011
Naomi
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Murder mystery set against the backdrop of Israeli history/politics. I find that many Israeli novels (and movies for that matter) are jam-packed with exposing/including all the conflicts (innner and outer) in Israeli society--and this book is no exception. There is the 19 year old who is selected to be a trained assassin, who has to live with the memoiries of what he did. There is the emigrant who is in a relationship with a "shiksa," the woman who chooses Israel over a man who wan
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Dec 26, 2010
Dmehringer
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It's hard to read a book when you can't stand the characters or their lives, their world. I stuck with this one only because I was going to the author's talk and wanted to know "what were you thinking?" He told me it took him 12 years to write this, and hoped I would read it in less time. It took me three months. He described this book as having three themes: the past, the present, and the play. And although the three areas weave and bob in an interesting way, it was not a good r
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Jun 01, 2010
Keith
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This is a strange but ultimately fascinating novel. Nominally a thriller, it is also a work of serious literary intent that explores Israeli history, or the "pre-history" as it is referred to in the novel. The ambivalence with which the younger generation views the founding of Israel is in striking contrast to that of the older characters in the book. This includes the narrator's late father and many of his friends. I found the viewpoints expressed in the book of great interest. Of cou
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Nov 01, 2010
Scotchneat
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A Canadian man goes to Israel to clean up his father's affairs after his death and ends up in a thriller related to an old manuscript of a play that he decides to re-stage.
I think I learned a bit about Israel's recent history through this book. And Mandelman examines Jewish-Arab relations on a personal level, which gets away from a lot of the rhetoric swirling about the characters in the larger political context.
There is an element of supposed supernatural in the book, bu More...
I think I learned a bit about Israel's recent history through this book. And Mandelman examines Jewish-Arab relations on a personal level, which gets away from a lot of the rhetoric swirling about the characters in the larger political context.
There is an element of supposed supernatural in the book, bu More...
Nov 13, 2010
Linda
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Political thriller, murder mystery, multilayered love story, detective yarn - a clean, smart, absorbing, twisty, dark, bright story. Historical fiction, too, maybe as we're immersed in the before and after of Palestine through its characters that inhabit this book. Dropped me right into the heat of Tel Aviv and Yaffo and the confusion of David Starkman, our hero, and I didn't put the book back down until the acknowledgments. Took Mr. Mandelman a long time to write his first novel, and his skill
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Aug 20, 2010
Juliana
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The characters were intriguing, complex, and well-written, but the convoluted plot sometimes got in the way (3.5 stars)
Mandelman's first full-length novel is well-written and the author is a gifted storyteller with a talent for creating intriguing, complex, and vastly different characters. As much as the plot is intricately woven and propels the book, I truly think the characters are the stars, for they are all very carefully and thoughtfully drawn and their portrayal feels honest an More...
Mandelman's first full-length novel is well-written and the author is a gifted storyteller with a talent for creating intriguing, complex, and vastly different characters. As much as the plot is intricately woven and propels the book, I truly think the characters are the stars, for they are all very carefully and thoughtfully drawn and their portrayal feels honest an More...
3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Sep 26, 2010
Carrie
rated it: 
It reads like one of those spy thrillers but gets very deep in the weeds with Israeli political intrigue, so much so that you feel you should have read up on Israeli history before picking up this book beforehand. I never felt engaged by the author to care for the story or any of the characters in this. By the end, I felt lost in the story tie-ups.
Dec 16, 2010
Sally
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This novel is part history, part murder mystery. It takes you from Canada to Israel. David Starkman comes to Israel to bury his father, whom he has not seen or spoken to in seven years. His father wrote a play which the Israel
Government does not want tone produced. Lots of action and moments of losing the reader.
Government does not want tone produced. Lots of action and moments of losing the reader.
Dec 26, 2010
Elli
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Really enjoyed this; in fact had trouble putting it down. More on the complications of relationships with long term effects between Jewish (both eastern and western) with each other and the Arab residents and the difficulties in living there. Very complicated, but still very much there.
Jan 11, 2012
Interesting read; helps to understand the Israeli/Arab conflict politically. I especially can appreciate it in retrospect now that I have a class in Israeli culture currently and have read the novella "Facing the Forest" by A.B.Yehoshua.
Nov 02, 2010
Jackie
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"An absorbing and captivation novel that bridges the uncomfortable political gap between the Palesstinian and Israeli sides". It is very complicated and I had to read some sections over again.
Dec 26, 2010
Garryvivianne
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I kinda liked it & kinda not. I do not understand why this play was such a big deal. But I do like the way it was set up & eventually ended.
Sep 18, 2011
Blubeari
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I honestly don't know why, but I just couldn't get into this book. I got maybe halfway through before giving up.
Jul 06, 2011
Karen
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Interesting and challenging view of Israel and the relationship between Jews and Arabs in the early years of the state
Jun 14, 2011
Cheryl
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THE CHARACTERS ARE FLAT, AND THE PLOT IS DRAWN OUT. LOTS OF JEWISH REFERENCES AND INSIDE JOKES/DOUBLE MEANINGS I DIDN'T GET. THE BOOK WAS NOT AS GOOD AS OTHER REVIEWS SAID IT WAS. I WAS DISAPPOINTED.
Jul 18, 2011
Wendy
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Wow. I was driven to read this book because I simply wanted to know what happened. The thriller aspect, former assassin trying to quit the life is called back to Israel after his father's death, the political aspect, Arabs v. Jews, and the historical aspect, Jews v. Arabs and Germans, all drove the plot. I don't pretend to understand the conflict in the Middle East any better than when I started reading, even though I swear I learned stuff along the way. If you try it, have a dictionary handy
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Dec 07, 2010
Serendipitous
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Between the death of his father and the past that seems to keep him from sleeping the main character overcomes some of his own demons while trying to come to terms with some of his fathers past history. Filled with stark realizations, a bit of humour, this book will keep you interested until the final page is read.
Dec 02, 2011
Julie
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The setting, Palestine, and the Arab Israeli conflict interesting. I liked the setting and the Debba. The characters-not so much.
Jan 08, 2012
Sandi
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I found this to be quite the absorbing read though very different. From the first page I was swept up into the story even though the main character was not the most appealing and the plot, at times, seemed most unlikely.
Dec 12, 2011
Karen
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It was a new perspective of a long history of the middle east but somehow the conflict of this character didn't ring convincing to me. I would recommend it however, as it kept me interested enough to read through quickly.
Oct 26, 2010
Marie
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Irresistible literary pageturner. See my full review here: http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2010/10...
Oct 02, 2010
Sue
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A somewhat strange combination of hardboiled detective fiction with the "situation" in Israel.
Feb 03, 2012
