Ima's War

Set at the beginning of the Iraq War, the novel chronicles the activities of a female government assassin whose job is to remove suspected terrorists remaining in the U.S. by violent means. Ima, who recently learned she is pregnant, prays to leave "the crazy life."

U.S. Attorney Nathan Minnow has problems of his own, tied to a paranoid and aggressive administration bent on firing him because they feel he is not patriotic enough. He must decide whether to help Ima carry out her dubious mission or help her escape from it.

In Islam, there is the greater and the lesser Jihad. The greater is understood to be the fight against heresy. The lesser is the struggle within the self. Minnow and the government assassin move fatefully towards each other, engaged in jihad on both levels. Domestic terror, religious zeal, cosmic irony and a cast of unforgettables, all are deciphered and balanced skillfully in Alfredo Chandler's thought-provoking new thriller, Ima's War.