A riveting novel of suspense set in post-9/11 Middle East and America, RED SEA is the first work of fiction from critically acclaimed author Emily Benedek.  After four commercial airliners disappear almost simultaneously in international airspace, retired Israeli colonel and special forces commander Julian Granot is called back to his old job to investigate.

He solicits the help of Marie Petersen, a journalist, and Morgan Ensley, an FBI agent, and they make the horrifying discovery that the plane crashes are decoys to conceal a more ambitious assault on the Western world. Through an investigation that leads from Jordan to Iraq, through London and Cyprus to New York, Granot and his unorthodox team uncover plans for just the attack that has terrified American security experts for years: a nuclear bomb slipped onto a container and rigged to explode in a major US seaport. Meanwhile, Marie discovers a startling personal connection to the Islamist terrorist behind the plot, a secret that jeopardizes her life and the entire mission.

"Emily Benedek is the new female voice of suspense novels of the highest order.  RED SEA is filled with complex plot twists and memorable characters, plus a chilling vision of a terrorist attack even deadlier than 9/11.  Ms. Benedek obviously knows her stuff, and it shows on every page." -- Nelson De Mille



"Solid suspense, a fine thriller... A tremendous young talent."  -- Stephen Coonts



“Red Sea is a gripping foray into the world of terrorism. Ms. Benedek has done her homework.” -- Steven Emerson, author of American Jihad and executive director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism

 

“Emily Benedek’s realistic and factual thriller about terrorism is not only a heart-stopping read, it informs as much as it entertains.” –Naomi Ragen, author of The Covenant

Emily Benedek is a journalist and author. Her articles and essays have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Glamour, and on NPR, among others. She is the author of The Wind Won’t Know Me: A History of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute (Knopf, 1992); Beyond the Four Corners of the World: A Navajo Woman’s Journey (Knopf, 1996); and Through the Unknown, Remembered Gate: A Spiritual Journey (Shocken, 2001).Benedek spent a year following an FBI special agent working counterterrorism and wrote about an F-15C fighter pilot who flew in Operation Shock and Awe. Red Sea is her first novel.