The Bus on Jaffa Road

“Two young Americans are murdered on a bus. From that point on Mike Kelly takes us on a ride through the tortuous mine field of Middle Eastern politics as their families search for justice. The story takes us into the mind of a terrorist and down the corridors of power in Washington. Best of all, it reads like a novel. Read it! You will enjoy it and in the process learn a great deal about our troubled world.”
—Thomas H. Kean, former New Jersey governor and chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

"The Bus on Jaffa Road goes deep below the rhetoric on the "war on terror" and tells the compelling story of what happens to the people who are not killed but whose lives are destroyed by one bomb on one bus."
—Bob Simon, correspondent, CBS 60 Minutes

“Mike Kelly has made a significant contribution to the literature on terrorism and counterterrorism in The Bus on Jaffa Road. By focusing on one tragic event, Kelly manages to evoke the emotions, policies, legalities and moralities surrounding an act of terror and efforts to make some good come out of evil. In a judicious way, Kelly helps us empathize with the Duker and Eisenfeld families while presenting the complexities of the struggle to punish and deter the backer of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a book well worth reading.”
—Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League

"Mike Kelly has delivered an elegantly written, deeply reported account of the terrorist attack
on Jaffa Road that prefigured many of the suicide bombings we have seen since. He brings to life the lives of many victims, including the Americans who were killed, and gets inside the heads of the Palestinian perpetrators and the Israeli counterterrorism officials who investigated the incident. It's a gripping account of a fascinating episode in the history of Israel and of terrorism in general."
—Peter Bergen, CNN terror analyst and author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad”

“In tackling perhaps the hardest subject to write on, a suicide bombing, Kelly will grab you and not let you go until you read the last page. The Bus on Jaffa Road is destined to become a literary classic. Non-fiction at its very best. Mike Kelly has written one of the most compelling, spellbinding, and exquisitely written narratives of our time. Based on the story of two young American lives brutally cut short by a suicide bombing in Israel, The Bus on Jaffa Road is one of those rare books that tells a story that is absolutely riveting. This book will resonate with every ounce of intellectual and emotional fiber in your body. Reading this book was a transformative experience for me. Kelly’s talent lies not only in re-creating the scene of the crime in hauntingly factual story telling but in capturing the essence of a love story—the love of a young American couple whose lives were horrifically ended in a violent nanosecond by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem. The story is told is vividly on so many levels and through the hearts and minds of the tormented surviving parents left to grieve forever; through the Israeli counter-terrorist agents whose mission is to track down the Palestinian masterminds of this bombing; through the doctors and medical rescuers on the ground at the moment of impact; through the byzantine legal proceedings in the US and Israel; and through the eyes of an unvarnished and unrepentant killer, who to Kelly’s credit, is revealed to be an unromantic mass murderer. This is a book for all of time and humanity, and the lack thereof. It is also the story of the indomitable will of the human spirit to make peace with that which is unpeacable. Kelly has written a masterpiece. “
—Steven Emerson, executive director, The Investigative Project on Terrorism and author of numerous books on terrorism

"A meticulous, beautiful book about terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and two extraordinary young people whose absence haunts us to this day."
—Peter Beinart: former editor of New Republic and author of The Crisis in Zionism

“Solid reporting from a deeply committed journalist.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Mike Kelly's skill, besides digging into so much material and amplifying our knowledge base through this own interviews, is in mastering it all and weaving such a tight fabric of understanding elegantly expressed. One could say this is a great book about everything that is touched by a suicide bombing - by all the suicide bombings.

This is a compelling story that will interest readers who follow current events.