Damascus Gate - by Robert Stone (Paperback)

About the Book

With soaring vision and profound intelligence, Robert Stone has written a harrowing, breathtaking novel about our desperate search, at any price, for the consolation of redemption - and about the people who are all too willing to provide it. A violent confrontation in the Gaza Strip, a mind-altering pilgrimage, a race through riot-filled Jerusalem streets, a cat-and-mouse game in an underground maze, a desperate attempt to prevent a bomb from detonating beneath the Temple Mount - Damascus Gate is an exhilarating journey through the moral and religious ambiguities that haunt the holiest of cities and its seekers, cynics, hustlers, and madmen. Set in Jerusalem, where violence, ecstasy, heresy, and salvation are all to be found, Damascus Gate is simultaneously the story of a man's search for truth - or some version of it - and the story of a city where sanity is casually traded for faith.

Book Synopsis

"A stunning novel by a great American writer."--Washington Post

Jerusalem: home to seekers, heretics, hustlers, and madmen of many faiths. In this most fractious city, a plot unfolds to bomb the sacred Temple Mount.
Christopher Lucas, an expatriate American journalist, stumbles upon the plot while investigating religious fanatics. Entangled in the intrigue are a nightclub singer, an unstable Jewish guru, a strung-out Kabbalist seeking the messiah, and a soldier of fortune routinely found at the world's violent clashes. A confrontation in Gaza, a chase through riot-filled streets, a cat-and-mouse game in an underground maze--as Lucas races against time, he uncovers the duplicity and depravity on all sides of Jerusalem's sacred struggle.
An explosive bestseller, Damascus Gate lays bare the dangers at the fringes of faith.

"A transcendent thriller."--Time

"Brims over with plots, subplots, and an impressive array of incisively drawn characters . . . The range of [Stone's] knowledge is spectacular."--The New Yorker

"Damascus Gate asks enormous questions about cosmic truth--and its effect on those who think they own it--with intensity, intellectual rigor and abiding morality."--San Francisco Chronicle

From the Back Cover

A stunning novel by a great American writer. Washington Post
Jerusalem: home to seekers, heretics, hustlers, and madmen of many faiths. In this most fractious city, a plot unfolds to bomb the sacred Temple Mount.
Christopher Lucas, an expatriate American journalist, stumbles upon the plot while investigating religious fanatics. Entangled in the intrigue are a nightclub singer, an unstable Jewish guru, a strung-out Kabbalist seeking the messiah, and a soldier of fortune routinely found at the world s violent clashes. A confrontation in Gaza, a chase through riot-filled streets, a cat-and-mouse game in an underground maze as Lucas races against time, he uncovers the duplicity and depravity on all sides of Jerusalem s sacred struggle.
An explosive bestseller, Damascus Gate lays bare the dangers at the fringes of faith.
A transcendent thriller. Time
Brims over with plots, subplots, and an impressive array of incisively drawn characters . . . The range of [Stone s] knowledge is spectacular. The New Yorker
Damascus Gate asks enormous questions about cosmic truth and its effect on those who think they own it with intensity, intellectual rigor and abiding morality. San Francisco Chronicle
ROBERT STONE is the author of seven novels: A Hall of Mirrors, Dog Soldiers (winner of the National Book Award), A Flag for Sunrise, Children of Light, Outerbridge Reach, Damascus Gate, and Bay of Souls; as well as two story collections, Pulitzer-finalist Bear and His Daughter and Fun with Problems. His memoir, Prime Green, was published in 2006.
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Review Quotes

"But while the religious quests of Stone's characters help drive his story, the novel is ultimately concerned less with metaphysics and cosmic order than with the earthly realm of politics and the human craving for certainty. The characters in Damascus Gate may be "God- struck," they may dream insistently of a better world, but like so many Stone characters, they end up captives of history and their own very human illusions." The New York Times

"Heavy as a marble tablet, it delivers revelations about character and culture in the way that only a dense, textured novel can.... Precise and passionate, Damascus Gate is a stunning achievement." The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Damascus Gate asks enormous questions about cosmic truth--and its effect on those who think they own it--with intensity, intellectual rigor and abiding morality." The San Francisco Chronicle

"The writing, often dense with metaphor and landscape, is powerful, and the result is a pulsing, profound novel...." Entertainment Weekly --