Disapointing. I expect more of this author. ( )

Infuriatingly stupid book that relies upon its protagonist, who had a one night stand with a man who turned out to be a terrorist, making one stupid decision after another to keep the plot going. Flanagan insults his readers intelligence time and time again. There are good points to be made about post-911 paranoia, but Flanagan isn't the writer capable of making them. ( )

As a novel, The Unknown Terrorist lacks the certain something. It starts out fast and hard but looses all that speed somewhere in the middle of it and ends poorly (and very predictable).

Instead, the book does a good job painting a world after 9/11 in which people live in constant fear of further terrorist attacks in their neigborhoods. The author takes this view to the next level and describes a world - or rather a continent - where the government stirs this fear on purpose, where the media is (ab)used to spread misinformation as long as it helps to distract the people from other issues while running the risk of recklessly ruining the lives of inoccent peoples.

Interesting topic, maybe there's even some truth behind it, but not my kind of book. ( )

Gina Davies, aka 'The Doll' is a pole dancer from Sydney, who yearns for a better life for herself. To The Doll, all that matters is the pursuit of money and all the pleasures that it can being (such as designer clothes, accessories etc.). One night, The Doll has a one night stand with a stranger named Tariq, who has disappeared by morning. At around the same time, three unexploded bombs are discovered, and Gina discovers that Tariq is a suspected terrorist...and as someone who has been seen with him, she finds herself a suspected terrorist (the 'unknown terrorist' of the title).

The Doll goes on the run, while around her the media whips Sydney into a state of panic about the threat of terrorism. An unsavoury journalist jumps on the bandwagon in an attempt to rescue his own flagging career, and soon the situation becomes a major news story, with Gina as public enemy number one.

This book can be enjoyed as a straightforward thriller, but there is a a subtext, showing how the media manipulate people's fears, and how such fears give society justification for vilifying people, with nothing concrete to base their feelings on. Scariest of all was the fact that it is easy to see how such a situation could happen in today's culture of fear.

It's a fast moving story (despite taking place over only a few days); the first half however was more enjoyable for me than the second half, which seemed to get a bit bogged down by some overwrought prose. It also felt a little preachy towards the end, but overall this did not detract from the story. ( )

I struggled with this book, but perservered, which I was glad of in the end. Gives lots of thought about the role of the media in society.

A superb critique of the climate of fear and the loss of personal freedoms, so hard won over many centuries now being wittled away. No one is spared from Flanagan's barbs, Sydney Morning Herald readers, suburbanites all get their serve. A great read. ( )

A chilling scenario, and oh so frighteningly possible in current times. This book has been so strongly recommended to me by friends and family that I had to read it, but if not for their enthusiasm I would not have persisted beyond the first few sections since I did not find 'The Doll' a believable character. Flannagan has written a polemic disguised as a thriller: he has done it very well, but it is his concerns (which I share) rather than his characters which drive the story. ( )

The ending was fairly inevitable, and some of the prose a bit overwrought, but it was entertaining overall. Strippers just don't seem to come to a good end, poor things. ( )

The folks at Tourism Australia must be squirming about Richard Flanagan's only slightly exaggerated portrait of Sydney's underbelly of greed, cruelty and vacuousness. The Unknown Terrorist holds an uncomfortable, undeniable ring of truth about life in a global city, though its impact is greatly depleted by its shallow characterisations and totally unsympathetic heroine. The novel also suffers from a self-consciously cinematic plot and mood - it seems highly likely that in a drab mid-town office block, somebody is right this minute negotiating with Abbie Cornish or Kestie Morassi to play The Doll in a blockbuster movie. It's not a bad story, but certainly nothing new or particularly engaging. ( )

I had a hard time with this book. It started out rough.. got better...and then ended poorly. A young woman who makes her living as a pole dancer in a gentleman's club, has a one night stand with a handsome stranger. We don't learn too much about this stranger, but their meeting leads the authorities to believe that she is a terrorist. Instead of going to the police to explain the situation, she decides to go into hiding.

My problem with this novel was not her profession... or her lack of education...or the dark and depressing subject matter... my problem is that the main character seemed to to be driven, only by money, and not much else. I get that she probably needed to focus on something material, in order to get her through her grisly line of work, but when she was accused of being a terrorist... I didn't get that she was genuinely panicked over it. She just seemed to flit from one location to another.. perhaps it was her drug use. She seemed to be looking at things through a filter.

In the first part of the book, we know this woman as "The Doll". This is a good name for her as she appears to be very one dimensional. Towards the end of the book, we learn her real name and we learn some things about her that make her more real to us. However, I don't feel that this information was given to us early enough.

One descriptive word that came to mind when trying to describe this book to my husband was "gritty". The media plays a large role in this novel, and I kept picturing the dark, gritty quality of a bad news clip taken in some foreign land. Overall, the book left me very unsettled and disturbed.

If you want a departure from your normal reading, then this might be a book for you. ( )

A very good read which is also my first by this author. I've looked at his other books and whilst they may not appeal to me if his writing style in those is as good as this one then maybe I should give them a look!

There isn't much plot information on Amazon and what I'm going to write is from the inside cover of the novel, therefore no spoilers. Gina Davies (The Doll) is a 26 year-old pole dancer in Sydney. She's obsessed with money and is quite racist. Her world is one full of deception and pretence. After a night where three unexploded bombs are found in a local stadium she has a one-night stand. She then becomes prime suspect in an attempted terrorist attack.

The reader is involved in Gina's journey through all of her ups and downs. His writing style will surely meet the needs of both a male and female audience. The book is presented over a series of days, four I think it was. Within this there are a total of 96 small chapters so you can either sit and read about a whole day in one go or a series of chapters.

Very enjoyable, well-written and characters that are easy to get involved with. ( )

brilliant! what a indictment of contemporary howardian australia! ( )

http://homepage.mac.com/shawjonathan/... ( )

Felt a bit like preaching to the converted, in that only people who understand already the problems with anti-terrorism laws and activities will read the book. Yes, the novel highlights the horrible way facts can be twisted, or can twist themselves, to show that what things seem may not be what they are, however I don't think this kind of book will change any of the minds it is aiming to change. ( )

Notes, explanations and reviews from Richard Flanagan's website: http://www.theunknownterrorist.com.au...