I Was Told to Come Alone

My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad

By: Souad Mekhennet

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

For her whole life, Souad Mekhennet, a reporter for the Washington Post who was born and educated in Germany, has had to balance the two sides of her upbringing - Muslim and Western. She has also sought to provide a mediating voice between these cultures, which too often misunderstand each other.

In this compelling and evocative memoir, we accompany Mekhennet as she journeys behind the lines of jihad, starting in the German neighborhoods where the 9/11 plotters were radicalized and the Iraqi neighborhoods where Sunnis and Shia turned against one another, and culminating on the Turkish/Syrian border region where ISIS is a daily presence. In her travels across the Middle East and North Africa, she documents her chilling run-ins with various intelligence services and shows why the Arab Spring never lived up to its promise. She then returns to Europe, first in London, where she uncovers the identity of the notorious ISIS executioner "Jihadi John", and then in France, Belgium, and her native Germany, where terror has come to the heart of Western civilization.

Souad Mekhennet is an ideal guide to introduce us to the human beings behind the ominous headlines as she shares her transformative journey with us. Hers is a story you will not soon forget.

©2017 Souad Mekhennet (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The thrilling narrative brings up critical, persuasive insights while trying to answer the questions of where terrorism comes from and why it's so difficult to eradicate." ( Library Journal)

Please read!

Moving, beautiful, and informative. I am ever grateful to the author for her work in journalism and for this book. She's now a hero of mine.

Great Book, Terrible Narration

I cannot believe this narrator could not pronounce a single German word, including "die" - "the," in a book that is written by a German author and that takes place not only in the Arab world but also in Germany and Austria. What were you thinking!!

Souad Mekhennet is a truth seeker.

This book was riveting, eye opening and life changing. I’m a college history professor and I’m amazed at her methods of truth finding and her personal integrity. Her research methods align with academia, perfectly. One of the best books I’ve ever read.

Almost perfect

Souad Mekhennet’s story is powerful, and her storytelling is masterful. Kristen Potter does a marvelous job narrating, but so much of this story is about identity and language, I missed Mekhennet’s accented English and rhythms.

A Must Read for Every American

Ms. Mekhennet goes deep into the Middle East to discover the truth about Isis and other terrorist cells. With courage, fortitude and a heartfelt desire to understand, she enters the most dangerous territories to go directly to the source. I find her to be a brilliant human of great depth and courage, a wonderful storyteller of a truly complex story. A must-read/must-listen for everyone, especially Americans. Challenge your beliefs. Read this story. Took me to the next level of understanding. Recommended.

Finally a true picture

Would you consider the audio edition of I Was Told to Come Alone to be better than the print version?

This is a refreshing, unbiased story of the rise of global terrorism .. and one that is rarely told anymore. It is amazing how journalism has become so biased and so focused on only telling one side of a story. To finally hear a more holistic view is captivating and enlightening. The story takes you into recent world events to give you an in-depth, behind the scenes look into the players and their motivations.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Souad's integrity to the journalism profession is inspiring. She takes you back to what true journalism is.. not a point of view but an unbiased telling of information so the reader can understand the situation for themselves.

Which character – as performed by Kirsten Potter – was your favorite?

The performance by Kirsten Potter was excellent. The pace of the book was great and will keep your attention right till the end.

Fantastic book

So hard to get a good honest harsh look into both sides of great Islamic people trying to deal with the other side of brutal radical Islam but Souad does it so insightfully and honestly. Fantastic read

A view from a different perspective.

Souad does a great job of helping us see the whole issue of Jihad and the trouble in the middle east from a muslim immigrant perspective. Things always have multiple sides and are more complex than what we see in cable news. It is a great read!

Interesting perspective worth listening to. Poor narration.

I have heard the author on the radio. Listening to her narrating the book would have made me much more authentic. It is un aceptable for a narrator not to learn how to pronounce the few German words prior to recording and for the author not to hear the narration and scream. To hear the name of Der Siegel magazine massacred was painful. Other than than I truly enjoyed and learn from the work.

hard to get past the mispronunciations

one of the best books I have ever encountered. anyone who has ever asked the question "why do they hate us" should read. the author has a nearly unique vantage point to observe the tensions between Western culture and Islam. she is in a way an outsider to both groups and yet a member of both. she can observe from an emotional distance without being just coldly analytic. regarding the narration: hearing German words and names mangled by someone who is supposed to be a fluent speaker of the language disrupts the cocoon that is required to immerse oneself in a story. Listening to audio books, for me, it is always difficult to keep track of names. Hearing names, like Gerhard Schroeder, the former Prime Minister of Germany, mispronounced, makes one wonder whether the Arabic names are also being mangled. So, I am reluctant even to try to remember them. Likewise French and Belgian names - I am pretty sure that "Mollenbeek" does not rhyme with bird's "beak". otherwise, the narration was really okay.