EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE Jonathan Safran Foer. A young boy whose father is killed in the WTC attack searches New York City on a treasure hunt.
THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST Mohsin Hamid. A young Pakistani-American falls out of love with his girl and his adopted country in this bold, Muslim political story.
THE EMPEROR’S CHILDREN Claire Messud. A cast of young, aspiring New Yorkers have their self-involvement torpedoed by the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
A DISORDERLY PECULIAR TO THE COUNTRYKen Kalfus. A husband and wife's divorce is hardly derailed by national tragedy in this black comedy.
THE EFFECT OF LIVING BACKWARDS Heidi Julavits. Two sisters are either part of a test for the Institute of Terrorist Studies or a hijacking-as-art experiment.
THE GOOD LIFE Jay McInerney. The Bright Lights, Big City author brings back his cast from Brightness Falls for a midlife crisis instigated by 9/11.
THE LAST NIGHT OF A DAMNED SOUL Slimane Benaissa. An Arab-American is lured, through religious conversion, into a terrorist plot.
TERRORIST John Updike. An Egyptian-American is lured into a plot to bomb one of the tunnels leading into Manhattan.
THE WRITING ON THE WALL Lynne Sharon Schwartz. The attacks stir up old losses and create new families among survivors in this love story.
PATTERN RECOGNITION William Gibson. In a world swirling with signs, 9/11 adds a stimulus too many.
–John Freeman