What a pleasure it is to read a real winner of a book. Though Michael Ross is a foreigner in a strange land when "The Volunteer: The Incredible True Story of an Israeli Spy on the Trail of International Terrorists" begins, there is little foreign about his writing style. There is something so friendly, so familiar about reading Ross's memoir.
Like many youths, Ross sought to expand his boundaries, and travel the world. A simple quest (to find a warm climate during the winter months) would forever change his life. Landing on an Israeli kibbutz in the early 1980s, the young Canadian adjusted to his new life quickly. Filled with readily available merriment and a plethora of friendly, multi-national faces, Ross seemed to have found it all. However, all changed when an epiphany struck the youth while on a bus in Israel, and he knew home in Canada, would never be home again, as Israel was his new home. While on a bus, Ross recalls the exact moment that all changed:
"We all have moments when we look back and think about the important crossroads in our lives. For me, the defining moment was in 1983, while riding a bus between Haifa and the pastoral fields and hills of the lower Galilee, near the sleepy town of Yokneam... The spring sunshine was streaming through the old Egged bus windows, illuminating the crudely tattooed sequence of numbers on the upraised arm of an old man seated beside me. He looked old, wizened, yet alive - seemingly living in quiet obscurity. It dawned on me that this was the first person I'd ever seen whom I knew to be a Holocaust survivor. Despite the fact my knowledge of the Nazi "final solution" didn't extend much beyond what I'd learned in school, the realization had a powerful effect. At a time when I needed direction in life, it awoke in me a reflexive need to protect and defend those who cannot protect themselves... Many other factors and experiences influenced my desire to cast my lot in with the Jewish people. But this was the moment that I began to heed the words of Ruth 1:16: 'Do not urge me to leave you or return from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your G-d my G-d'... I would not be discouraged. I had fallen in love with... an entire culture and religion."
The Volunteer" is very charming in many ways. Ross often interweaves his narrative with a poetic rhythm or well-known quotation, to familiarize the reader with a situation which may otherwise seem completely unrelatable. And yet the lovely flow is so subtle, that even with a delicious cooing of perfectly chosen words, one can still enjoy that fact that they are reading a true spy novel. An interesting point Ross makes throughout the first part of the book is how easily he was able to assimilate into Israeli culture. Though a complete outsider, once he embraced his surroundings, and chose to move ahead in a new and vastly deeper existence, he was embraced just as quickly. The remainder of the book is a passionate account of just some of his anti-terror operations and spy missions. Some are more exciting than others, and some of his adventures require going through a haze of bureaucracy - something many readers are familiar with.
Ross's adventures are exciting, and even heart-stopping, as he goes head to head with some of the most dangerous people alive, who readily seek to destroy the nation of Israel. Ross still remains reflective throughout, trying to assess the bigger picture, and his role in protecting Israel, while also dreaming of what the future may hold. While recounting his training in the Israeli Army, Ross noted that the most impressive part of his training wasn't the technological superiority, but
"... the way our trainers made us understand our role... These were frank and open discussions about when to kill and when not to kill... The format was essentially Socratic, with Lieutenant Tal presenting a moral dilemma and the rest of us discussing the best way to solve it... Everyone took these lessons to heart. This fact helped explain a paradox I'd noticed since joining the Israeli army. No other nation on earth is more dependent on its military for its survival... Yet Israeli soldiers are, by my first-hand observation, less militaristic... While service in the military... is a source of pride, fighting is still considered a necessary evil. By teaching its soldiers such lessons, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] ensures that it has not only a more effective military than those of its Arab neighbors, but a more ethical one as well."
Partly reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's recent epic, "Munich," "The Volunteer" succeeds in holding the moral high ground while explaining the do-or-die attitude an operative must employ, in order to survive and protect his endangered countrymen.
A wonderful and insightful read, "The Volunteer" is the perfect book to read this summer. Take the time to savor this book and soak in its meaning, for it is a treasure. Plus, it's a great way to tide over fans of the spy and adventure genre until "Quantum of Solace" comes out. Happy reading!
