American Radical

Starred review from August 28, 2017
A Muslim American working as an undercover agent in a counterterrorism unit in the FBI grapples with his faith while posing as a jihadi sympathizer in this multifaceted, action-packed account of real-life spycraft. Elnoury, writing under a pseudonym, opens the book on the evening of Sept. 10, 2001, as he prepares to intercept a major drug deal while working undercover narcotics in New Jersey; it isn’t until 2008 that he begins his work with the FBI’s counterterrorism undercover unit. Written with journalist Maurer (coauthor of Mark Owen’s No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy SEAL), the book largely focuses on Elnoury’s attempt to penetrate into a plot to blow up train tracks on the route between Toronto and New York City. The plot is led in part by Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian doctoral student living in Montreal, who was flagged by the Feds after contacting al-Qaeda operatives online. Elnoury heightens the suspense in vividly described scenes, such as when he nearly gets run over by a train while scouting locations for the attack with two suspected terrorists, and provides insight into the worldview and intentions of al-Qaeda affiliates. There is never a dull moment in this intimate story of an American Muslim going to great lengths to serve and protect his country.

August 15, 2017
The story of an Egyptian-born Muslim FBI agent's undercover pursuit of Islamist extremists.Elnoury--who co-wrote this book with Maurer, co-author of No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy Seal: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden (2012)--is clearly aware of the complexities of his life's mission. Although he was always drawn to law enforcement, spending years in undercover narcotics work in New Jersey, he notes that "Islam was something I practiced privately." He was understandably outraged on 9/11. "I was angry, embarrassed, and hurt," he writes. "Some asshole in a cave turned me and my family into the enemy." The author volunteered his services as a culturally attuned Arabic speaker, realizing that "the FBI was waking up to a new war....They had to adapt to meet a new enemy." Still, it took years for the FBI to recruit him. "They wanted to see if I could come close to passing the FBI Undercover School," he writes, and he credits this intensive training with protecting him during his high-risk infiltrations. He developed a "legend" (or cover identity) as a wealthy real estate speculator who'd drifted toward extremism, first ensnaring an Afghan al-Qaida supporter, whose "confession had led to [a] drone strike." Elnoury then began an elaborate penetration of a small cell determined to commit mass-casualty attacks in the U.S. and Canada. This complex international operation, which makes up much of the narrative arc, resulted in several successful prosecutions. The author reflects compellingly on the challenges of being a Muslim patriot, and he closes with a plea to resist wholesale bigotry: "Banning Muslims from the United States throws gas on the myth that the United States is at war with Islam." His tale of infiltration is exciting and clearly written, although since he blurs the specifics of actual undercover tradecraft, his reconstructed, dialogue-heavy encounters with jihadist suspects are occasionally repetitive. A worthwhile, unique addition to the shelf of post-9/11 memoirs concerning the fight against terrorism.

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