The Mirage: A Novel (P.S.) - Softcover

"Like Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, the premise behind Ruff's alternate-history novel is chilling."--The New York Post

"Ruff embraces his twisty concept with an attention to detail that suggests many months, more likely years, of fervent research. . . . He is a world-class world builder who, perhaps better than any other writer, can create exotic, mysterious worlds and communicate their unique rules and consistent logics."--The Stranger

"Sci-fi/fantasy/post-cyberpunk cult author Matt Ruff imagines an alternate world in which Arabia becomes the earth's dominant superpower and America is a dictator-led, fundamentalist backwater. More than half the fun here comes from discovering all of the intricately clever consequences Ruff derives from that simple premise."--Details

"The alt-historical framework is in many ways the best and most entertaining part of the book, and you want it to expand beyond the mere 400 pages of The Mirage."--Seattle Weekly

"Furious entertainment. . . . It echoes Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union or Steven Barnes's Lion's Blood, but more comparisons will be made to Philip K. Dick's World War II reimagining The Man in the High Castle."--The Onion's AV Club

"If you amalgamated the methodical, punctilious, world-building skills of Ian McDonald with the reality-distortion powers of Philip K. Dick and then folded in the satirical, take-no-prisoners savagery of Norman Spinrad, you might be able to produce a book approximating The Mirage."--Barnes and Nobles Review

"That The Mirage shares DNA with airport-kiosk genre exercises is nothing to be ashamed of. A good thriller is hard to pull off. The ingredients are clear enough: propulsive action, sympathetic characterization, and enough detail to ground the story without slowing things down."--The Philadelphia City Paper

"This book quite successfully challenges the ideas of Christian moral supremacy and the unchallenged political agenda of superpowers. It is a deeply satisfying novel which excites hopes of a long and productive career for this young writer."--Examiner.com

"The Mirage is an intriguing addition to the genre . .. . Ruff spices up his tale with a wealth of arresting details. . . . Ruff keeps you reading, [out of] eagerness to see what twist he'll think of next."--The New York Times Book Review

"A unique and compelling read."--The Associated Press

In the summer of 2009, Arab Homeland Security agent Mustafa al Baghdadi is plunged into a conspiracy involving Suddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, and the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee when a captured suicide bomber claims that the world in which they live is a mirage.