Tony Malik is an FBI agent who is half Arab. He is seriously injured by a terrorist bomb. While nearing the end of his rehabilitation, he decides to attend the wedding of relatives in Palestine. Since he will be in the Mideast anyway, his boss has asked him to meet with the Israeli chief of police. The supposed meeting puts Malik in a dangerous situation and he is pursued by both Israelis and Palestinians.

Interspersed throughout the plot of The Human Scale , Lawrence Wright describes historical facts about this region of constant unrest which for me got in the way of the plot. And although I believe Wright tried to be objective in his story telling, readers who are either pro Israel or pro Palestine will be angered at how he presents this work of fiction. Lawrence Wright should stick to writing nonfiction, which I feel he does best.