GEHENNA

Jerusalem, 2015: Three young people are shot by a mysterious gunman outside a local pub. The victims include a young Palestinian, an up-and-coming writer reputed to be the new star of Israeli literature and the daughter of an influential real estate contractor.

A misspelled graffiti note is left at the scene blaming Arabs and causing the police to alert the special unit which investigates Jewish crimes. Yonatan, the head of the unit, arrives at the scene and realizes the assassin was a professional and the clues just don't add up. When more murders and graffiti slogans appear throughout the city he is thrown into a high-octane chase after a well-trained killer.

Gehenna portrays the shadowy forces lurking beneath the Jerusalem landscape. Orthodox Jews, Palestinians, rich foreign moguls and even a new-age guru, all conspire to get what they want at any price. As Yonatan dives into the investigation with his partner and former lover Lena, they discover that not all is as it seems. The two are launched into a twist-filled hunt to expose the forces behind what seem like ideological murders and turn out to be something else entirely.

YIFTACH ASHKENAZI is the author of three novels and two short story collections. In 2016, Yiftach won the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literature and the Rotenstreich Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Students in the Humanities. He is currently writing a thriller T.V. series for an Israeli Cable network. He lives in Jerusalem.