Synopses & Reviews
David Headley, the American-Pakistani also known as Daood Gilani, lived a double life. One day he would be strolling through Central Park in his tailored Armani suit as a true New Yorker, and the next he would browse in the bazaar in Lahore wearing traditional Pakistani clothes. One day he would drink champagne at the most extravagant clubs; on another he would prostrate himself in prayer in remote Pakistan and pledge fidelity to Allah.
Born in 1960, the son of an American mother and Pakistani father, with one blue eye and one brown, Headley grew up between East and West. He was attracted to both worlds, even working as an informant for the US government, until one day he found he had to choose between his place of his birth and a radical form of Islam preaching global jihad. This is the disturbing story of the mastermind behind the 2008 attack in Mumbai that killed 166 peopleand#151;who two months later flew to Copenhagen to plan another act of terror with the help of Al-Qaeda sleeper cells in Europe. Veteran journalist Kaare Sand#248;rensen has reconstructed his movements and planning in a tense feat of reportage. His account, which reveals emails by Headley accessed from a chatroom cache of 9,000, offers unprecedented insight into the mind of the terrorist.
Review
and#147;An immensely readable hybrid between a well-written thriller and high-level investigative journalism.and#8221;and#151;
Weekendavisen (Denmark)
and#147;Convincing . . . Difficult to put down until the last page is turned.and#8221;and#151;Jyllands-Posten (Denmark)
and#147;The tension lies not only in the description of the terroristsand#8217; actions and planning, but also in the psychological mindset of David Headley and his friends.and#8221; and#151;Berlingske Tidende (Denmark)
Synopsis
Written with the pacing of a thriller, a veteran journalist's account of the terrorist behind the Mumbai attacks.
David Headley, the American-Pakistani also known as Daood Gilani, lived a double life. One day he would stroll through Central Park in his tailored Armani suit as a true New Yorker, and the next he would browse in the bazaar in Lahore wearing traditional Pakistani clothes. One day he would drink champagne at the most extravagant clubs; on another he would prostrate himself in prayer in remote Pakistan and pledge fidelity to Allah.
Born in 1960, the son of an American mother and Pakistani father, with one blue eye and one brown, Headley grew up between East and West. He was attracted to both worlds, even working as an informant for the US government, until one day he found he had to choose between the place of his birth and a radical form of Islam preaching global jihad. This is the disturbing story of the mastermind behind the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people--who two months later flew to Copenhagen to plan another act of terror with the help of al-Qaeda sleeper cells in Europe.
Veteran journalist Kaare Sorensen has reconstructed his movements and planning in a tense feat of reportage. His account, based on extensive reporting, eyewitness interviews, and documentation including wiretaps, court transcripts, and emails by Headley accessed from a chat room cache of nine thousand messages, offers unprecedented insight into the mind of the terrorist. The author has provided updates and a new preface for the English-language edition.
About the Author
Kaare Sand#248;rensen, an investigative journalist, has written extensively about Islamic terrorism and traveled to Pakistan, Yemen, and Iran. He also covered the Arab Spring during the violent clashes in Tahrir Square in Egypt in 2011. He is now based in Copenhagen, where he covers terrorism, surveillance, and the intelligence agencies for the Danish newspaper
Jyllands-Posten. He lives in Denmark.