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Rating: 
Summary: Very Detailed and Well-Researched
Review: How could a young American, born and raised in America, as a Roman Catholic, to upper middle-class American-born parents, wind up besieged by American and Afghani military forces, waist-deep in filthy ice-cold water, with a bullet wound in his leg, in the basement of a fortress/prison in northern Afghanistan alongside his "Arab Afghan" Islamic holy warrior comrades?? How had he been, only a few weeks earlier, training at the very same militia camp that many of the 9/11 hijackers supposedly trained at? What exactly did he learn to do there? How could he have shaken hands and spoken privately with alleged 9/11 financier/mastermind Osama BinLaden at that very camp only a few weeks prior to the 9/11 attacks in New York?? How did this young man, only just legal drinking age at the time, manage to penetrate such a remote and hidden underworld? A terrorist underworld which some of the most highly-trained intelligence agents have still not been able to infiltrate successfully. All of these bizarre questions and more are answered in depth in this very interesting book about the strange journey of the young man who became known as the "American Taliban", John Walker Lindh. Author Mark Kukis gives us all of the details about Lindh's odyssey from comfortable "haute bourgeois" liberal Marin County to the dingy impoverished back alleys of Sana'a, Yemen, and ultimately to an extremely isolated school for Koranic study in the lawless mountains of the Northwest Frontier region of Pakistan. There, Lindh would make the connections which would eventually lead him over the border into war-torn Afghanistan and the welcoming arms of the embattled Taliban regime. Lindh is currently approaching the beginning of what will be his third year in a mid-security federal prison in California. Barring his committing any serious infractions of the rules while behind bars he will then have at least fourteen more years to go. Nonetheless, he will only be between the ages of 37 and 41 when he returns to society, a completely free man. Many, especially the survivors of one Michael Spann, a CIA agent who was killed in the uprising at the fortress/prison where Lindh and his "Arab Afghan" comrades were then besieged, feel that this is hardly justice being served. Some would like to see him hanged. Some feel that the sentence that he has received is appropriate punishment. Still others feel that Lindh should be set free from prison, his time spent on the front lines with the Taliban battling the "Northern Alliance" written off as simply the culmination of a series of grievous errors in judgement made by a confused (and quite possibly slightly "disturbed") young man. I will withhold my own personal opinion on Lindh's case as this is not a political editorial page but a book review. And instead, I will simply highly recommend this very unique and most interesting page-turner of a book, and leave each of you to be the judge(s) for yourselves.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointed
Review: I was hoping to read more about why Walker Lindh committed the acts he did, but without a firsthand account, learning his beliefs was not possible.
Also, the author should have tried to weave in the political dynamic of the world into the story instead of treating Walker Lindh as an isolated person.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Informative Page Turner
Review: Kukis keeps you turning the pages on this well written biography of the American enigma which is "John Walker Lindh".Kukis daringly retraced Lindh's steps through the unforgiving hotbed of madrassas and dusty towns in the middle east to deliver an excellent recount of what happenned to this unique young adult. Kukis's interviews of those closest to Lindh in his final months before capture really gives you an insight to a world much different than Lindh's United States. This is a must-read for anyone who enjoys keeping abreast with current events as well as those who wish to peer into the mind of one of the most notorious 9-11 figures.
Rating:
Summary: Very Informative Page Turner
Review: Kukis keeps you turning the pages on this well written biography of the American enigma which is "John Walker Lindh". Kukis daringly retraced Lindh's steps through the unforgiving hotbed of madrassas and dusty towns in the middle east to deliver an excellent recount of what happenned to this unique young adult. Kukis's interviews of those closest to Lindh in his final months before capture really gives you an insight to a world much different than Lindh's United States. This is a must-read for anyone who enjoys keeping abreast with current events as well as those who wish to peer into the mind of one of the most notorious 9-11 figures.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Odyssey
Review: Mark Kukis has done what few authors have the nerve -- or skill -- to do: explored Lindh's path from American student to Taliban fighter by actually following in Lindh's footsteps. Along the way, Kukis vividly describes the places and personalities that shaped Lindh's transformation. Unfortunately, the Lindh family declined an interview with Kukis to tell their side of the story. However, Mr. Kukis does not let this setback interfere with his narrative, instead depicting Lindh as seen by people in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- a richer, more accurate and more rewarding depiction than would likely have emerged from an interview with the Lindh family in the comfortable confines of their California living room. In the end, Kukis leaves deliberately unanswered the central question in the Lindh paradox. Is John Walker Lindh a hapless American kid who made some really bad choices in finding himself -- the kind of bad choices many of us have made in life, only with drastically worse consequences? Or is he a cold and calculating zealot pledged to jihad against those he perceives as non-believers? The answer is ultimately locked away in Lindh's mind as securely as Lindh himself is incarcerated, but Mark Kukis has done an excellent job in literally walking in Lindh's footsteps to try to find that answer.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Odyssey
Review: Mark Kukis has done what few authors have the nerve -- or skill -- to do: explored Lindh's path from American student to Taliban fighter by actually following in Lindh's footsteps. Along the way, Kukis vividly describes the places and personalities that shaped Lindh's transformation. Unfortunately, the Lindh family declined an interview with Kukis to tell their side of the story. However, Mr. Kukis does not let this setback interfere with his narrative, instead depicting Lindh as seen by people in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- a richer, more accurate and more rewarding depiction than would likely have emerged from an interview with the Lindh family in the comfortable confines of their California living room. In the end, Kukis leaves deliberately unanswered the central question in the Lindh paradox. Is John Walker Lindh a hapless American kid who made some really bad choices in finding himself -- the kind of bad choices many of us have made in life, only with drastically worse consequences? Or is he a cold and calculating zealot pledged to jihad against those he perceives as non-believers? The answer is ultimately locked away in Lindh's mind as securely as Lindh himself is incarcerated, but Mark Kukis has done an excellent job in literally walking in Lindh's footsteps to try to find that answer.
Rating:
Summary: traitor or confused kid?
Review: Since John Walker Lindh first made news, I've been waiting for someone to do a serious examination into what caused this boy to fight for the Taliban. Mark Kukis has done exactly that. Kukis has a very smooth and flowing writing style; I finished this book in only a couple of days. The book offers much insight into Walker's character, without drawing absolute conclusions about his guilt or innocence. The reader is left to make his or her own judgment on that issue. I would highly recommend this book.
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