Set in contemporary Paris, Fishing in Beirut follows the lives of five very different characters. For details and ordering information, please see http://fishinginbeirut.com/
The story is set in Paris, beginning in late 2002. In the first section, we meet Frank, a 23 year old Irishman, Karen, a 26 year old blind woman from Chicago, and Johnny, a 32 year old street musician from Senegal. These characters do not know one another initially. Gradually connections between them emerge.
Aria, a 19 year old American girl, is introduced in the second section. She is taking a plane from San Jose to go and live in Paris.
The book goes on to detail the lives of these four characters in Paris, with earlier scenes also taking place in Berlin and Sevilla.
At the end of the second section, a would-be terrorist living in Beirut, Djinn, is brought into the story, who plans to bomb the Montparnasse tower in Paris.
The story is told in short, evocative scenes, favouring a technique of simply portraying the characters as they live their lives.
By the novel’s end, Djinn’s actions have changed Paris, echoing the changes in the lives of the characters.