The Unit

September 1, 2023

Arriving in the United States at age 19, short, skinny Gamal could not yet speak English but felt he owed it to his new country to serve. He ended up as one of the few Muslim Arab Americans inside the Unit, a deep-surveillance division within the Department of Defense so secret it's not named here. He's since won Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Legion of Merit honors. With a 100,000-copy first printing; Gamal is a pseudonym protecting him and his family. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 26, 2024

Gamal is a pseudonym designed to keep the author--a member of a U.S. military unit so secretive that it's simply called "the unit"--safe and his family out of harm's way. Coauthor Kennedy (They Fought for Each Other) served in the U.S. Army, and she did stints in Mogadishu and Desert Storm. Together, they're offering insight into a special operations group. Some may find that it reads more like an autobiography of a Muslim Arab American, who served in the U.S. military, found his calling as an effective operator but easily noticed what the leadership was doing wrong. The authors point out what seem like obvious flaws--that could have prevented major catastrophes--in United States' approach to "the war on terrorism." The book stresses that education is crucial in rebuilding nations and that if Western powers do not fill that void, someone else will. The importance of embracing immigrants in the U.S. is an overarching theme with relevance to the current political climate. VERDICT A quick, thought-provoking read that lays out both strengths and flaws of the U.S. military in equal measure. Fans of modern military history will find this title enjoyable.--Matthew Wayman

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2024
A memoir from a member of "the military's most secret intelligence/special operations unit." Gamal (a pseudonym) was born in Egypt to a family whose father, although struggling to make ends meet, put four children through college. As a child, the author grew up detesting the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian extremists who exerted great influence. As he was studying law, a professor explained that he would never practice what he was learning because there was no rule of law in Egypt. Brilliant but frustrated, Gamal moved to the U.S. in 1991 at age 20, with no job and speaking no English. Helped (and sometimes exploited) by fellow Egyptians, he passed three years working menial jobs but eventually finding success, marriage, and a family. In 1994, feeling he owed a debt to his chosen country, he joined the Army. Hardworking and tough, Gamal breezed through training, during which he encountered both encouragement and racism. He volunteered for a force so secret that he can only refer to it as "the unit." The author describes it as similar to special forces, employing the same murderous training, teamwork, daring, and firepower, but with additional emphasis on surveillance and intelligence gathering. Most of the book recounts missions in the Middle East and Africa, and the text, some of it redacted, features plenty of fireworks, including an encounter when Gamal was shot and almost died. Fiercely patriotic despite regularly encountering prejudice, the author does not hesitate to point out the catastrophic consequences of Americans' ignorance of other cultures. For example, despite the military's being desperately short of personnel who can speak languages other than English, it dismissed hundreds with those skills under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy (in effect from 1994 to 2011). Some may scoff at the term diversity, but Gamal clearly shows how its absence regularly hobbles military missions. The compelling story of an unlikely hero in the war on terror.

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