The Seventh Compass Point of Death

THE LIT-CRIT TAKE: A character-driven thriller, centering on the themes of terrorism, understanding and hope. THE PURE PLOT PITCH: Here's bad day: Guy sets out to rob a bank but ends up pulling a carjacking, and when he's arrested a body is found in the trunk. The victim is a Sunni community leader, and why was he killed? Who killed him? The search for answers takes me into the homegrown Islamic underground, into plots, counterplots, deceptions and love affairs, all leading to an attack on a major NYC landmark.