mardi 15 octobre 2013

Thrilling Reading With Terrorism Fiction

By Megan Landry


There's nothing like an engaging book to help you pass a dreary afternoon. It's even better when the story is filled with action, adventure and intrigue. For truly gripping reading, you can't go wrong with terrorism fiction.

Definitions of what terrorism actually is, vary. Some people say that one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter. However, the common thread to the groups or individuals labeled as terrorists seems to be that they use acts or threats of violence to spread fear, so that their political goals can be met.

Novels with espionage as theme are often great sources of stories about terrorists. Tom Clancy, for instance, is best known for his series of novels where the main character is Jack Ryan, a secret agent in the United States. Ryan often has to stop terrorists in a day's work, like in 'Patriot Games' as well as 'The Sum of all Fears'.

Some of the most fascinating terrorists in history were women. Leila Khaled, for instance, was a Palestinian revolutionary who was famous for not only hijacking airplanes but also for her extraordinary beauty. John le Carre, another master of the espionage genre, created the character of Charlie, an actress turned double agent and terrorist for the Palestinian cause in 'The Little Drummer Girl'.

The Troubles in Northern Ireland have inspired many novels about terrorism. The Irish Republican Army was usually called a terrorist group and several books are centered around members of this organization. An example is 'A Prayer Before Dying' by Jack Higgins.

The fight against apartheid in South Africa also involved acts that were classified as terrorism by some, most notably that country's government. Anti-apartheid novels often deal with this armed struggle. For example, a gripping story is that of Thomas Landman, the hero of Andre Brink's novel 'An Act of Terror'. Landman is an Afrikaner man is drawn into the liberation movement and after a failed attempt to kill the president, has to flee.

From the late Sixties to the Early Eighties, there were many extreme left-wing groups in Europe and the United States who engaged in terrorist activities to raise awareness of causes like Palestinian independence. In West Germany, for instance, the Baader-Meinhof Group, officially known as the Red Army Faction, gripped the public's imagination while in America the Symbionese Liberation Army was on everyone's lips when Patty Hearst, a socialite and heiress, joined them after they had kidnapped her. Some of these groups were really just amateurs, like the one described in Doris Lessing's fascinating 'The Good Terrorist' about such a group in the United Kingdom.

As long as there are terrorist groups, there will be novels about them. A good place to find terrorism fiction is online but bookstores and libraries will also have a selection. This theme indeed makes for gripping reading, so be sure to switch off your phone, close the door, get some snacks and escape for a few hours into a world of intrigue.




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