In Sep­tem­ber, 1997, Israeli intel­li­gence oper­a­tives pos­ing as Cana­di­an tourists unsuc­cess­ful­ly tried to assas­si­nate Khalid Mishal, the leader of Hamas. This account of the inci­dent and the result­ing fall­out by award-win­ing for­eign cor­re­spon­dent Paul McGeough reads like a John Le Car­ré thriller, but it is seri­ous report­ing that brings to light the short­com­ings of all the involved par­ties. Hamas, the Israeli gov­ern­ment, the Unit­ed States, and oth­er Pales­tin­ian fac­tions are all guilty of cor­rup­tion and atroc­i­ties that make peace a dim pos­si­bil­i­ty. Any­one inter­est­ed in cur­rent Mid­dle East­ern pol­i­tics will learn a great deal from McGeough’s thor­ough treat­ment of this shame­ful episode in world affairs.