Just off a divorce, Olivia moves back to her roots in Texas where she meets Max, a charming, muscular, educated, and competent man. And is enamored by him. Max, as it turns out, with his olive skin and Hispanic name, is an Arab. A disenchanted Arab that lost the seduction of the American dream after 911 as the hostility towards Arabs, in general, soured his prosperous and idealistic life since becoming an American citizen. "It is America's loss now that I am going back home," he told Olivia as they got to know one another. The more Olivia took to Max, the more she tried to talk herself out of it. She heard what often happened to women in the Middle East, and also how charming men in America turned into monsters once on their home turf. But Olivia took the plunge and went with Max, whose real name is Khalil, back to Lebanon, by way of the Persian Gulf. Max was indeed the Arab Knight in shining armor she had fallen for back in Texas. But between the new Arab nationalism and Max's Shia brand of Islam, they endured hardship after bigoted hardship against them in the Gulf states. The ultimate move to Max's homeland in southern Lebanon proved just as hazardous as the terrorist puppet of Iran, Hezbollah, now occupied his village and much of the rest of southern Lebanon. Both Olivia and Max were modern day survivors, however. They stood up to Hezbollah's mischievous adventures on the one hand, but befriended many of its members they lived among now. Then came the Arab Spring. And then came ISIS. Was this the end of times, Olivia often wondered? Ironically, it was Hezbollah that protected them, southern Lebanon, and the large Christian towns and villages in Lebanon from ISIS. Alliances reminiscent between America and the Soviets that fought Hitler in World War II, Hezbollah and the Christians stood fast against the Nazi like atrocities of Daesh, the Arab name for ISIS. Throughout their ordeals in this volatile region in this ultra-violent time, Olivia's strong rural Texas heritage and her strong Christian faith kept her focused and surviving. While Max was a proud Arab and faithful Muslim, he was modern and educated and wrestled with the excesses of his heritage. This novels goes into great detail to explain the complexities of the present day Middle East. And delves deeply into how Olivia and Max survive even as they stand up to the extremism of Hezbollah, and endure the modern day holocaust around them presented by the atrocious jihadist ways of ISIS and genocide. It took more than physical courage for them to survive. It took strong heritage and religious foundation in Olivia's Christian upbringing, and Max's strand of Islam to keep them sane and vital.
About the Author: I was born and raised in Harlingen on the border with Mexico on the southern tip of Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico. I was raised with old school values on a cotton farm. After high school I went to Texas A&M and was in the Corps of Cadets there. I quit in the middle of my senior year to join the Marines in the hope of going to Vietnam. I also served in the Peace Corps in The Philippines. I travelled around the world between these two events in my life and saw enough to need to relate it. I worked for eleven years in Switzerland. I married there and raised two of my three children there. I now work for Texas A&M. And finally have time to reflect on my life and its meaning. And write about it.