Hakim never thought about the terrorist watch list until the Transportation Safety Agency put him on it. Then his life fell apart. His wife left, his drivers license was revoked, and he was forced from his home.
As Hakim flees his suburban Portland, Oregon home, he hopes to rediscover the anonymity and obscurity of his former life in the great National Parks. But an attack at Mt. Rainier makes him realize his plan could put his family, friends, and life in peril.
A social media influencer begins to paint Hakim as a public enemy and an outsider in his native country. While he tries to confront a government seemingly arrayed against him, appearing in public becomes nearly impossible.
Laying low in increasingly remote places, Hakim encounters a cannabis entrepreneur and a journalist who want to help. Can he trust two people he barely knows? Can he get back to the only life he’s known?
Hakim and his new friends must act quickly as a frenzied wave of fear pushes his pursuers toward acts of unspeakable hate.
Hakim never thought about the terrorist watch list until the Transportation Safety Agency put him on it. Then his life fell apart. His wife left, his drivers license was revoked, and he was forced from his home.
As Hakim flees his suburban Portland, Oregon home, he hopes to rediscover the anonymity and obscurity of his former life in the great National Parks. But an attack at Mt. Rainier makes him realize his plan could put his family, friends, and life in peril.
A social media influencer begins to paint Hakim as a public enemy and an outsider in his native country. While he tries to confront a government seemingly arrayed against him, appearing in public becomes nearly impossible.
Laying low in increasingly remote places, Hakim encounters a cannabis entrepreneur and a journalist who want to help. Can he trust two people he barely knows? Can he get back to the only life he’s known?
Hakim and his new friends must act quickly as a frenzied wave of fear pushes his pursuers toward acts of unspeakable hate.
Forest Grove, Oregon, January 25 – 8 months left
My phone chimed. I didn’t bother looking at it. Instead, I stared out the window at the dreary midwinter drizzle, disbelieving that Mom was gone. I’d just talked to her only days earlier, and she’d seemed fine.
My phone chimed again. I thought about silencing it until I saw the screen displaying fourteen messages from Phil, my edi- tor at the news agency in Portland. Phil usually emailed me with new projects since I work from home and rarely visit the office. Texts were only for when something really blew up. Fourteen messages was a record. I called him.
“Hi, Phil. What’s up?” I braced for his complaints about my failure to answer any of the first thirteen texts.
“Where the hell have you been, Hakim? I need a story on the Russian connections in Syria translated by 3:30.”
I looked at my watch. It was 3:15 now, impossible to make his deadline.
I looked back at his earlier messages. He’d started contacting me two hours ago.
“I needed to run a quick errand. How big?”
“A thousand words.”
“No one else could do it?”
“Hakim! You’re my go-to guy for Arabic translations. I need
to be able to count on you.”
“I can get you a synopsis by 3:30 and the full translation an hour later.” This was impossible too, but I hoped I could fudge it until 5 or later. Phil usually built in some extra time when he budgeted stories.
“All right, but Christ, Hakim. Keep your phone with you. This can’t happen again.”
“Will do. Gotta run if I’m gonna get this translation ready.” “Wait. Hakim?”
“Yeah?”
“Everything ok?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re never late, and that’s now two projects in two days where you’ve gone AWOL.”
I wasn’t ready to tell Phil I’d spent the entire previous day coordinating between the funeral home, the Algerian Embassy in Washington, DC, and the US Embassy in Algiers to ensure Mom’s body was properly transported home.
“Just a little distracted. Seriously though, I need to get start- ed to make your deadline.”
“All right, but tell me if something’s going on. Please?” Phil pleading was never good.
“Bye Phil.”
Now I did silence my phone. Phil could wait until I was done translating the story.
My mind wandered back to Mom’s sudden passing, and I struggled to grasp at the threads of our conversation from just two days ago. I never thought I’d have to figure out how to repa- triate a body, but now Mom’s corpse was on its way to Algeria and her words were already fading from my memory. She’d come to the United States with Dad because she wanted to see the world, but she’d always wanted to be buried near her family in her native village.
Dad was overcome with grief and could not face figuring out how to transport Mom’s body back to Algeria for burial.
I forced myself to translate Phil’s article. I liked my job and Phil was a good editor, but today I had a more important dead- line. Dad and I needed to be in Algeria to collect Mom’s body, and we’d already lost a day.
At 5:30 I sent the translation to Phil. It wasn’t good, and I knew it. I included a note saying I’d be gone for two weeks and couldn’t take on any work until I returned. I’d worry about the fallout later.
I began calling airlines.
Watch List
by Edward Tanner
Hakim is planning a trip to handle his mother's estate with her family in Algeria. Hakim's wife, Addie, cannot go due to work commitments, so he and his father are leaving Portland for the airport. While in the line for the security check, Hakim is asked to leave the line and follow a TSA agent to another area. He noticed his father standing out of the line and talking to another agent. Hakim is taken to a secluded area and asked for his passport, driver's license, tickets, etc. Different agents come into the room and question him about the purpose of his trip, where was he born, and where he lives. Hakim's luggage gets searched multiple times while he's asked the same questions over and over. When Hakim asks about his father, the agents do not believe that this European-looking man is Hakim's father and deny access to him. After many hours, Hakim is released without any personal papers or belongings; but finds his father waiting for him in the airport. For many days afterward, Hakim and Addie believe the government made an error and he will be able to get his property back with a few phone calls. Hakim eventually finds out that he is on the "No Fly" list and cannot get his passport or belongings back. This is only the beginning of Hakim's concerns as his panic starts to build.
The author builds suspense in every chapter as Hakim tries to rectify what is happening to him. Every avenue he takes to unravel his situation becomes more convoluted, more confusing, and increasingly scary. The police are watching him and he cannot produce identification when asked. Each person he meets intensifies his unease and fear for his safety. At the beginning of each chapter is a timeline that gets smaller and smaller, but to what end? As a reader, I felt the tension increasing with each chapter and every move Hakim makes to stay safe.
Even though this book is fiction, it has a realistic and authentic feel to the experiences and spiraling emotions that Hakim lives through. I would recommend this book as it is relevant to today's society and societal issues. I would rate this book a 4 and recommend it for general audiences that enjoy action and mystery.