Summary

“Do Not Pass Go” by Jeffrey Archer begins with Hamid, his wife, and children, who drive to the New York airport from where Hamid is to take a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. Hamid tells his son that he will be back in fourteen days. In the airport terminal, Hamid gets something to eat and reflects on the fact that the Pan Am flight would be nicer, but also that it is more expensive. On the flight to Istanbul, Hamid remembers how he and his wife came to America five years before. Hamid was the Iraqi Minister of Agriculture but he got sacked by Saddam Hussein who needed a scapegoat for a year of poor crops which led to people going hungry. Hamid and his wife crossed the border illegally to Turkey using Hamid’s savings, which he had quietly been converting into American dollars. After that, Hamid contacted the American Embassy and sought political asylum. Hamid and his wife were flown to the US for free, along with some Turkish carpets that Hamid bought. In the US Hamid started a carpet...