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Description
It is 2002 and as tanks roll into the West Bank and the reverberations of 9/11 echo across the globe, tensions are running high on Cairo's streets.
Private Investigator Makana, in exile from his native Sudan and increasingly haunted by memories of his wife and daughter, is shaken out of his despondency when a routine surveillance job leads him to the horrific murder of a teenage girl. In a country where honor killings are commonplace and the authorities seem all too eager to turn a blind eye, Makana determines to track down the perpetrator. He finds unexpected assistance in the shape of Azza, a woman who seems to share Makana's hunger for justice.
Seeking answers in the dead girl's past he travels to Siwa, an oasis town on the edge of the great Sahara Desert, where the law seems disturbingly far away and old grievances simmer just below the surface. As violence follows him through the twisting, sandblown streets and an old enemy lurks in the shadows, Makana discovers that the truth can be as deadly and as changeable as the desert beneath his feet.
Product details
Published | Feb 04 2014 |
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Format | Hardback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 432 |
ISBN | 9781620403402 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury USA |
Dimensions | 210 x 140 mm |
Series | A Makana Investigation |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Makana's sharp and sometimes melancholy observations bring both Cairo and Siwa to life, and Bilal handles grotesque crimes delicately, favoring characterization and culture over blood and gore. This third Makana installment is a literary gem and a good match with Zoe Ferraris novels and Shashi Tharoor's Riot.
Booklist
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With its elegant prose and its incisive insight into the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Makana's third appearance transcends genre, satisfying fans of both mystery and literary fiction.
Kirkus
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Well-crafted… concludes with satisfying dashes of action and keen deduction.
Publishers Weekly
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Parker Bilal whisks the reader straight to the dark heart of Cairo... his prose has a subtlety that is rarely found in crime novels.
Economist on The Golden Scales
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One of those rare books in which the setting serves as a character itself: Cairo is portrayed as a living, breathing entity whose very existence shapes the lives of those residing within its confines.
Bookpage on The Golden Scales
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Bilal deftly weaves past and present in this complex and compelling mystery set in 1998 Cairo... Wonderfully detailed, the narrative reveals Cairo as a teeming, chaotic, and ungovernable. One looks forward to the sequel.
Publishers Weekly on Golden Scales