In The Shell Game, Steve Alten illustrates how this was all done for oil. Thousands of innocent Americans were allowed to be martyred in exchange for the excuse to go to war in the Middle East.  The first target: Iraq. The next target: Iran. And as long as Americans are not allowed to investigate what exactly happened on the morning of September 11, 2001, Americans are vulnerable to future attacks.

Eight years after 9/11, we have a new president who, while campaigning, appealed to advocacy groups with his platform of government transparency.  Yet in the days since Obama has taken office, nothing has changed. Citizens still cry out and petition to understand how a reclusive Islamic leader could orchestrate the hijacking of four commercial planes on American soil. How did bin Laden divert the fighter jets?  Why was there never an investigation into the events of 9/11?  When so many countries warned us of 9/11 in advance, why did we not listen?  Why was no one in the Bush administration fired after 9/11?

In his gripping novel, Alten weaves the story of how the next 9/11 could be orchestrated with even farther-reaching effects.  Described as making the “unpalatable irresistible,” Alten weaves the story of how 9/11, if left uninvestigated, is destined to repeat itself.