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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: 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.
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