Drawing from his own experiences, but with a twist, Michael Totten has made a successful transition from reporting to fiction
By JONATHAN SPYER
Taken is the first novel by Michael Totten. An American blogger and foreign correspondent who has reported from Lebanon, Iraq and Israel, Totten is the author of The Road to Fatima Gate and two other works of reportage.Totten has pioneered an approach to the work of the foreign correspondent’s trade appropriate to the digital age. Traveling light, unencumbered by formal affiliation to bureau or newspaper, he has managed in his reportage to achieve an empathy for and insight into both Middle Easterners and Westerners in the Middle East, which has made him into one of the most interesting voices working in the region.This is his first foray into fiction – and it is a success. The novel deals with the kidnapping of a writer, Michael Totten, from his home in the US’s Pacific Northwest. He is abducted at night by a band of four men who turn out to be Islamists. At least one of the gang appears to be American-born or raised.The fictive Totten is then presented by his captors with a strange opportunity.They intend to hold him until the US releases a number of incarcerated terror suspects. But in the meantime, he will be permitted to post entries to his blog, in order to raise publicity for the terrorists’ case.There follows some wry blogger’s humor in which the fictional Totten ponders his situation. He is furious about his capture, but cannot fail to note that the blogger’s dream of vastly increased traffic is now before him.Totten tries various tricks without success and finally reaches a desperate and unexpected decision as a means to gain freedom. To find out what happens next and further in, it will be necessary to read the novel – which I recommend.Taken works on a number of levels.From one point of view, it is a thriller.The author drives the plot with a determined hand. He shows a talent for describing scenes of action and intensity that has already been apparent from his reporting on Iraq and Lebanon.But the book is also a novel of ideas and a character study. In terms of the former, Totten uses the framework of the novel to discuss the nature of journalism and war correspondence, as the kidnapped Michael Totten ponders his fate and what will result from his incarceration.He notes the nature of the war correspondent as a “tourist on the dark side,” observing that he has always been happy with a “certain amount of darkness in my life,” as long as it’s not “my own personal darkness.” This, slipped into a scene in a thriller, is as insightful and honest a phrase on the typical foreign correspondent as any to be found.Through the depiction of the kidnappers, the book also asks questions about the appeal of radical Islam for some Western-raised Muslims, and the gap between the West and the Middle East.The characters of three of the captors are finely drawn. In particular, that of Ahmed, the leader of the group, is closely observed. It is a portrait more subtle, and in a qualified and measured way sympathetic, than would generally be found in books dealing with the grim subject matter here.This reviewer is generally skeptical regarding the postmodern tactic available to novelists of inserting themselves into their own novels. However, here the device works well. This is because of Totten’s slightly tongue-incheek approach to it.Thus at one point, the fictive Michael Totten casts doubt on his own fictional status. He declares that while a particular course of action might have worked very well in a work of fiction, he had to remember that “I wasn’t a character in a novel,” and this therefore could not be assumed to also apply to his situation.Such acrobatics are slightly dizzying, but Totten the writer manages to pull it off.I had two small quibbles with the novel. Ahmed, the main protagonist among the kidnappers, describes himself as having "converted" to Islam. But it appears that his family were non-practicing Muslims indifferent to their faith. The child of such people would not need to "convert" to Islam. I would have liked this issue to have been explained in more detail.But such a person would not describe this process as “conversion,” which in this context would imply something very different.The other, smaller quibble was that at a certain point Totten hears his kidnappers arguing in an adjoining room and understands what was being said. This reviewer’s language antennae twitched at that point. I asked myself, “Why would they be conversing among themselves in English?” But these are very minor points. On the most fundamental level, the question that needs to be asked about a work of fiction is: Does the writer succeed in creating an imaginary world in which the reader is able to immerse himself for the duration of the story? Is the fictional world presented with sufficient depth and power to make this mysterious process possible? The answer to both questions is yes.But Taken achieves more than this.There are writers who have great knowledge and experience of their subject matter, who nevertheless do not possess the imaginative and empathetic facility to establish a credible fictional world. By contrast, there are those whose creative and imaginative ability is great, but who have little or nothing of substance to say regarding the actual nature of the worlds in which their fiction is situated.Totten establishes in his novel that he has the rare facility of combining imaginative power with valuable, real-world insight into the subject matter at hand.Taken is both gripping and informative.It deserves to take its place on the short list of books that successfully weave thought and action, imagination and insight – to offer both a window into contemporary affairs, and an exciting and enjoyable literary experience. ■
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