The Miracle

Marina has always dreamed of being a spy, but when she gets recruited by the Mossad in her junior year in college, she gets more than she bargained for. Her growing obsession with Ali Chalabi, a fellow student from Saudi Arabia, takes her from New York to Riyadh to the Arabian Desert and almost costs her life.

Marina is Jewish and a passionate supporter of Israel. When she learns that Ali has broken into Israeli military computers, she volunteers to help Israeli intelligence track his activities. Ali likes to brag about his computer hacking exploits, so spying on him is easy, and a lot of fun. He is handsome and rich, and Marina enjoys expensive restaurants, torrid sex made even more exciting by the deception and a newfound sense of purpose. When Ali is recalled home to work for the Saudi Defense Ministry, she marries him to continue to spy on him. In Riyadh, she rarely leaves the house, communicating with her Mossad handlers through e-mail. She struggles with isolation and growing suspicions of Ali’s sinister brother. But Ali is kind to her. In this oppressive and alien world, he is the only friend she can turn to. She begins to fall in love with him for real, and she no longer enjoys betraying his trust. But it’s too late to stop. She discovers a terrorist plot to steal nuclear weapons from Israel but is unable to warn her contacts through the usual channels. If she does nothing, thousands of people would die. If she warns the Israelis, she will be exposed as a Zionist spy and sentenced to death.