Under the leadership of a visionary woman president of the United States, the global community brokers a major compromise between Israel and the Palestinian authority in the hopes of snuffing out the violent flash-point that fuels the flames of global terrorism. But then, Isaac Apfulbaum, a well-known fundamentalist rabbi, is taken hostage by Dr. al-Saath, a legendary Palestinian terrorist, who demands the release of several Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his captive. As Israel coaxes Elihu-a former Mossad officer-out of retirement to hunt down the terrorist who motivated his final mission, al-Saath and Apfulbaum find themselves building an extraordinary relationship between hostage taker and hostage: parallels between these two battle-hardened partisans become the bonds that could lead to reconciliation. But the Mossad strike team is closing in . . . Ferociously suspenseful and brilliantly topical, Vicious Circle is a thriller that, like The Company before it, breaks down an entire culture of violence into the corrupted consciences that embody it.