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| Urbane Publications 4 July 2019 |
Would you surrender your secrets to save a life?
London. It could be tomorrow. Amala Hackeem, lapsed Muslim tech entrepreneur and controversial comedian, dons a burqa and heads to the women's group at the Tower Hamlets sharia community. What is she doing there?
Ella Russell, a struggling journalist leaves home in pursuit of the story of her life. Desperate for the truth, she is about to learn the true cost of the war on terror.
Millie Stephenson, a university professor and expert in radicalisation arrives at Downing Street to brief the Prime Minister and home secretary. Nervous and excited she finds herself at the centre of a nation taken hostage. And then it gets personal.
Friends since university, by the end of the day the lives of all three women are changed forever. They will discover if friendship truly can survive secrets and fear.
What did I think about it..
A Killing Sin is a very timely novel as it reveals a world which could so easily be our own especially in the uncertainty of our current political climate. There is much to take in and the abundance of characters and their different roles within the story take a little getting used to but once I had them placed in my imagination the story starting to move along quite quickly.
The author writes well and the plot has an modern day authenticity which helps to keep the pacing quite tight so that the twists and turns when they come feel perfectly placed to grab your attention. I liked the succinctness of the different chapters and the way we heard the different voices coming through very clearly. The three main female protagonists, whilst all friends since university now follow a very different trajectory, and it is the way that these differences coalesce which make up the crux of the novel. To say more about the plot or the outcome of the story would spoil things, but one thing I can say is that the story made me realise just how easily this complex world can spiral out of control.
It must be difficult to write a fictional story about radicalisation and the threat of terrorism without making the plot seems over-sensational and yet the author has succeeded in creating a very believable world whilst at the same time holding together a gripping and imaginative story line.
A Killing Sin is a very timely novel as it reveals a world which could so easily be our own especially in the uncertainty of our current political climate. There is much to take in and the abundance of characters and their different roles within the story take a little getting used to but once I had them placed in my imagination the story starting to move along quite quickly.
The author writes well and the plot has an modern day authenticity which helps to keep the pacing quite tight so that the twists and turns when they come feel perfectly placed to grab your attention. I liked the succinctness of the different chapters and the way we heard the different voices coming through very clearly. The three main female protagonists, whilst all friends since university now follow a very different trajectory, and it is the way that these differences coalesce which make up the crux of the novel. To say more about the plot or the outcome of the story would spoil things, but one thing I can say is that the story made me realise just how easily this complex world can spiral out of control.
It must be difficult to write a fictional story about radicalisation and the threat of terrorism without making the plot seems over-sensational and yet the author has succeeded in creating a very believable world whilst at the same time holding together a gripping and imaginative story line.
KH Irvine grew up in Scotland and now lives near London. The book was her 50th birthday gift to herself, believing you are never too old to try something new. Her work has taken her to board rooms, universities and governments all over the world and has included up close and personal access to special forces. A Killing Sin is her first book. The second follows on a few years later as Britain moves to civil unrest with the rise of the far right as the personal and political become intertwined.
Twitter @KHIrvine #AKillingSin
@urbanebooks
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