The Contractor

The Contractor is the first novel to address the issue of American secret prisons in the war on terrorism. George Young, its narrator is a devoted family man and Gulf War veteran, who, when a hometown business venture flops, accepts work as a contracted civilian interrogator for the U.S. government. Soon he's overseas at a secret holding facility for suspected terrorists, a place called Omega. The work pays well, but his personal life is crumbling. His wife with whom he is forbidden to talk about the work he does is becoming more and more enamoured of gin and tonic. Worse, a detainee dies in George's hands during a "routine" interrogation. Frightened and confused, the detainee repeatedly asks, "Who are you?" just before dying of an apparent heart attack. These words echo throughout the novel and send George on a painful journey of self-interrogation and discovery. In order to defend his country and his family, must George betray his humanity? Weaving George's personal life into his professional work deepens this exploration of both mind and soul; of alienations that are startling, maddening, and saddening. Its power lies in the inevitable ways reasonable people can be led to do unreasonable things. The denouement is both chilling and unforgettable. It puts a human face on depravity and the consequences felt by inquisitors as well as those they interrogate.