Michael Lander is the novel's most interesting — and most tragic — character. A man stripped of most of the things that have given his life meaning, he has the job of piloting the blimp that provides aerial television shots of athletic events. This job prompts his contact with Black September. We see him proceeding inexorably toward his own destruction, since he has planned not only the deaths of everyone inside the stadium but also his own death.

Dahlia Ayad commands less sympathy. Lander's contact with the terrorists, she has gained considerable control over him and must maintain that control or kill him, yet within the constraints of that twisted relationship she takes good care of Lander; her success depends on keeping his physical and psychological well-being from deteriorating further.

Kabakov is the novel's nominal hero, although his acts differ little from the terrorists he opposes. The main...