Architect of Courage is set in New York, Brussels, and Tarifa, Spain, in the summer of 2011. In real life at that time, law enforcement and security services were on high alert for any kind of terrorist events that might be planned to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11. That anxiety colors what happens in the novel.
The orderly life of the book’s hero, successful Manhattan architect Archer Landis, is upended by the murder of the woman he loves. To his surprise, the authorities link her to the Arab American community, and their reflexive conclusion is “terrorist.” Landis sets out to prove them wrong, as attacks continue on everyone and everything he holds dear. To protect the people around him—and to survive—Archer Landis has to confront prejudice, self-doubt, the limits of loyalty, and his own need for redemption that transcends his desire for revenge.