David Cameron described the assault on the Westgate shopping centre as an "absolutely sickening and despicable act of appalling brutality".
As Adam hustles from checkpoint to checkpoint in a sweaty panic, the caller reveals himself as a member of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, and orders the soft, Americanized Adam to perform an act of appalling violence.
Imam Asim Hussain of the Manchester Central Mosque said it was a "cowardly and criminal act of appalling brutality, by a group who do not represent Islam at all".
In reviewing what he considered to be the injustice of the case, and reflecting on Gilbert's success in Canada, Green wrote: "No wonder that those responsible for this act of appalling cruelty went to such fatuous lengths to keep its details a secret".
JS, Swindon A&L's staff have acted with appalling insensitivity.
In my opinion, the way they acted is appalling, amoral and extremely unethical".
The whole play, in fact, is about a man whose sense of self is so shaken that he has to confirm his prejudices by committing acts of appalling cruelty.
He described reports of "acts of appalling barbarity committed against the Rohingya, including deliberately burning people to death inside their homes, murders of children and adults; indiscriminate shooting of fleeing civilians; widespread rapes of women and girls, and the burning and destruction of houses, schools, markets and mosques".
In the context of the novel, and the appalling act which preceded that particular bit of narrative, the fictional character's loathing is entirely explicable and understandable.
Cameron says the killing of the three Israeli teenagers was an appalling act of terror.
