An unnamed tough, working class woman decides to give Osama bin Laden a piece of her mind. He, after all, is ultimately responsible for the terror attack in which her husband and son die.

I thought her writing style - this is a woman who has previously probably never written more than a shopping list - would grate. But its immediacy, its raw emotion, its portrayal of a mind unravelling before the horror of her circumstances drew me in and involved me to the end. Recommended. ( )

I am unsure if I really understood the true direction of this book. Was it to illustrate the grief and despair of loss, and that one may never be able to cope with this and so go down a rabbit hole and not climb back out. Or was it to be so kind that you get taken advantage of knowing full well that you should not be treated like that but allow yourself to be a martyr or a toy for others pleasure. Is this due to the fact that the main character, who narrates the story, hated herself so much for being a constant nervous wreck, constantly needing attention or human contact which led her to being unfaithful and lacking a moral compass. Her character got on my nerves, she lacked ‘balls’ and made too many stupid decisions due to being consumed with grief or guilt depending on how the reader wants to view it. If she is named in the book, I cannot remember it as personally her character came across (to me) as someone who is wallowing in self-pity that she allowed herself to be used and abused by all who came in contact with her.
What I did like was the concept of this main character, writing to Osama Bin Laden to express one’s emotion, I found this clever. I also liked the witty references and conversations that transpired between her and her writings to Osama. Some parts towards the end got too mucky when she aimed to assimilate into Petra Sutherland, a fashionista. Why she chose to do this, I could not fathom was it to get into the office of Petra to blow her up only to find that when she got there she could not although Petra sold her down the river. Anyway, after this it all got too muddled, really turned to rubbish and I had become bored. ( )

I don't know, I guess the best word I can come up with is dissapointing. I thought this book would make me contemplate what is good and bad about the world without feeling hopeless but it didn't do that.

I think I would have appreciated this if it were written by or about an actual survivor of a terrorist attack, but as a work of fiction where the author has control over what will happen next I expected it to be more inspiring.

I gave it three stars because I think the portrayal of PTSD was incredibly effective, but I think with the current state of the world fiction dealing with this particular subject should be a little bit more hopeful. ( )

When I read Little Bee, I knew that I had to check out Cleave's first book, Incendiary. It did not disappoint. Cleave is a master storyteller. He really knows how to weave he words into an intriguing and engaging story.

For most of the book, you are following the life of a mother following a very horrific tragedy. You watch as she tries to put her life back together. But then, with about 40 pages left, the book picks up the pace as it turns a very dark corner.

There is a lot of humor in the book, but it is dark humor.

I highly recommend Incendiary. I don't think you will be disappointed. ( )

Epistolary books aren't generally my taste, but this one surprised me. As with most books that take me aback, I read this at the suggestion of friends...it was nominated by popular vote in a book club in which I participate. First off, the narrator of the audiobook version adds an amazing amount of depth to the book, even to the point of leading me to pick up on some British humor that I might otherwise not have grasped. The book is a relatively quick read, weighing in at just over 300 pages in paperback, or 8 hours in audio.

And it is funny!

In fact, Cleave is amazingly adept at stepping between dry, witty humor and poignant explorations of loss that leaves the reader wanting to cry. The narrator, during a sexual romp with her lover, loses her husband and son to an al Queda terrorist attack on London. This book is her letter to Osama bin Laden following that attack. As you can see, the premise is humorous from the beginning, and it only gets funnier...and more heartbreaking.

On the surface, this is a gripping story about a woman who has lost everything to a senseless act of terror, and, while traveling a grief-stricken journey to determine who to blame, slowly loses her grip on her sanity. At a deeper level, there is cultural critique here: not just on the barbarity of terrorists, but on the barbarity of the civilized world's response. As Cleave's protagonist loses her sanity to grief, the world around her (read: us) loses its sanity to fear. The image of a dark, near-future London with balloons hanging over the city bearing painted images of the dead haunts the reader for some time.

The fascinating development of characters runs even deeper, however. The protagonist's lover's girlfriend is nearly a mirror image of our distraught narrator, and the juxtaposition of a woman who loses while holding onto her core values against another version of herself who wins through self-serving, opportunistic means is amazingly well done. This, I think, is what stayed with me the longest from this book.

Incendiary is a quick read that will take you through an emotional journey that is well worth your time. The mirror that this novel holds to a post-September 11 world is provocative, and the conspiracy theorist twist at the end...well, let's just say that it is all too believable. ( )