Review: They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East

They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East by Mindy Belz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As the war in the middle east went out, most of us have unconsciously become numbed to the often repeated occurrence of violence and death reported in the media. Even if so, I've somehow have never come across journalism that focused specifically on the lives of the Christians in the conflict. I felt that the only way to cope with the shocking realisation of the immense suffering was to numb myself and try not to emphatise, otherwise, it'd be far too much for me bear. I came away with a snapshot of how these persecuted Christians, with physical and sexual violence and death in their face, would feel so rooted to their country that they would do their utmost to stay against insurmountable odds.

The start of the book was really intense and attention gripping; I could not stop myself from wanting to flip the page. However about halfway into the book, I was really puzzled as to how did all the content mesh with the title. It was only to the end of the book that ISIS came into discussion. So I'm not in favour of the rather misleading title, perhaps done to generate sales.

Towards the 200 page mark, I felt that the book had become rather too long, and laboured to finish reading. If I did not have to write a review, I'd probably put the book down much earlier. If in subsequent revisions the book became a 150 or 200 page title, which would mean keeping only the best content, then a larger audience could possibly be attracted. With the misleading title and longwindedness cleaned up, I would be easily persuaded to revise my rating from 3 to 5 stars.

I received this book from the Tyndale House Publishers' Blog Network Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

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