Blood Cries

In this excellent political novel about an American Jewish correspondent stationed in Jerusalem, Worldweek's Jared Paul Gordon is in a vise. Fascinated by Israel, for the first time in his life, Gordon finds his coverage of controversial issues criticized not only by the right-wing government but also by Adrian, his American-Jewish girlfriend, and her father, a millionaire who often intercedes on Israel's behalf. Gordon has taken the trouble to learn Hebrew and as a result made excellent contacts in the army and intelligence services, but when he tries to file an article on secret government assistance to anti-Arab extremists, his editors are pressured to suppress it. Weisman (Guerilla Theater does not create especially pungent characters or evocative atmosphere, but he has seized an important theme: the conflict between the journalist's ethic of reporting even the most sensitive stories and many Israelis' harsh, perhaps necessary reverence for realpolitik. With descriptions of events and interactions that reveal the hand of an experienced journalist, Weisman gives a sharp sense of politics and rivalries within Israel's complicated domestic scene. (May 19)