The Torture Trial by Joseph Suste is a surprising mix of a political polemic with a gripping court room drama. Imagine George Bush being brought to trial for authorising torture after 911, it could never happen? But it does in the Torture Trial.
Joseph Suste is a campaigning writer who seems to know his stuff about the US legal code, international law on torture and what went on post 911. The novel is extensively footnoted with hundreds of references, I don’t know whether his quotes are in or out of context, but to me at least, he makes a convincing case against Bush and his senior advisers. But, The Torture Trial is not just a well argued case for prosecuting the perpetrators of torture at the highest level of the US administration, it’s a really good court room drama, the characters are engaging, the plot is full of believable skullduggery – I didn’t want to put it down.
Read this, it’s gripping, instructive and most importantly it will make you question your ideas on what is acceptable within our democracies to defend us against those who want to do us harm. Think torture, think intrusive monitoring of our communications, think destabilising regimes that are considered a threat and think supporting some of the most anti democratic fascistic homophobic dictatorships in the world. All in the name of preserving our democratic values.
This was not what I was expecting, read it. 4.5/5
Thank you for your thoughtful review of my novel, The Torture Trial of George W. Bush. I’m very pleased with what you wrote. I had hoped the novel would not be seen as a “polemic” but instead be received as a factual reminder of what was done by our government after the 911 attacks and inspire people with the position and knowledge to bring the perpetrators to justice. It is my honest belief that the torture will continue until those responsible are prosecuted. I have delivered a copy of the book to every US Senator (100) and every US Representative on the US house Judiciary Committee. They can’t say they didn’t know.