Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda
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Most Americans think of the Taliban and al Qaeda as a bunch of bearded fanatics fighting an Islamic crusade from caves in Afghanistan. But that doesn't explain their astonishing comeback along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Why is it eight years after w Publishers Weekly Peters, a journalist who has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than 10 years, reveals that the Taliban raise hundreds of millions of dollars annually—and finance terrorist cells—by cultivating and exporting poppy to make narcotics. It's an important work of investigative journalism, but the book occasionally gets bogged down in details. Laural Merlington's monotonous narration only enhances the dryness: while the book certainly deserves a certain gravity of voice, Merlington's approach is so somber as to be tedious. Moreover, such a fact-heavy book does not lend itself well to the audio format; listeners can't easily digest the complexities nor can they quickly return to retrieve key information later. In this instance, the book's print version is preferable for marking significant details and also skimming the less compelling parts. A St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 16). (Aug.)
