Tunnels by Rutu Modan

​​This is my third read by Modan, and I’m definitely a fan. This is also her most recent one and it’s nice to see how her work has progressed, but then again, she was really good right out of the gate. 
The Arc of the Covenant is a sacred object lost to time. Or is it? What if the team of treasure hunting experts put their minds to finding it? On occasion, they do. The last time was interrupted by the Intifada, but Nili still remembers assisting her father as a child in looking for it. They got so close, tantalizingly close. 
Now, decades later, she returns to her quest. Her father is no longer mentally competent, her brother has sided with the enemy (another professor desperate to find the Arc for his own selfish reasons), and Nili is an unemployed middle-aged single mother. In other words, it’s all on her and she is determined to succeed. 
Sponsored by an antiquity collector who in turn is sponsored by his wife, Nili assembles a motley crew and proceeds to dig her way to the treasure. It isn’t easy, for now there’s a wall there, separating Israelis from Palestinians. No matter – the ever-enterprising Nili hires both. She even gets assistance from the local division of Israeli military forces.
Let the treasure hunting begin…
So maybe not quite Indiana Jones, but then again, why would it be. Not when it can be its own thing – a nuanced, often humorous take on the Middle Eastern conflict as studied in a microcosm, a satire of obsessive academia, a comedy of errors, a family drama, AND a genuinely exciting adventure story all in one. 
I really enjoy Modan’s books and their undeniable charm. They are offbeat in their realism, frank in their love of irony and valiantly defiant of the traditional storytelling conventions. The latter is especially noticeable in her endings. Plus, her art is great. Initially, it just looks like brightly colored cartoon-like style, but there’s actually a great deal of sophistication there, and the faces she draws are surprisingly expressive for their cartoonish features. Not just the faces, the entire characters are very expressive, their dynamics in fight or flight, the use of light and dark in the panels – absolutely great.
All in all, a very enjoyable read. Recommended.