📖 Book Review ~ The Khan by Saima Mir

 

Point Blank
1 April 2021

My thanks to Point Blank Publishing, One World Publications
and Sofia at Midas PR for my review copy of this book

Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men.

Jia Khan has always lived like this.

A successful lawyer, her London life is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father headed up the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule - the old way - was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.

But now her father, Akbar Khan, has been murdered and Jia must return to take his place. In the past, the police relied on him to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a power struggle has broken out amongst the various communities and now, nobody is safe.

Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a cost.

📖 My Thoughts..

Saima Mir came to my attention when I was invited to feature the details of the Desiblitz Festival on my blog and this author's crime novel piqued my interest. She is appearing at the Desiblitz Festival on the 25th September and tickets for the event may be obtained here.

The Festival opens today and runs until the 1st October. Saima Mir's event at the festival is on the 25th September.

Jia Khan leaves her well paid job in London and returns to her home town of Bradford for a family wedding. Jia hasn't been home for fifteen years since a tragedy forced her to leave and even though there are difficult reasons for her estrangement from her family, Jia's loyalty to them is unparalleled.

Jia's wealthy family have quite a reputation, as her father, Akbar Khan is the leader of an organised crime syndicate which he rules with his own special brand of rough justice. That the Khan's are people to be reckoned with comes across loud and clear and Jia's involvement in her family's complicated politics is heightened when her father is brutally murdered. Jia, as the eldest daughter, takes over ruling the syndicate in her father's place however, being a woman in this male dominated and very dangerous world is never going to be an easy ride.

Always respectful of the Pakistani community, their beliefs and culture, The Khan moves forward in a dramatic story which brings into question politics, prejudices and power and which highlights the uncompromising nature of the criminal underworld where neither the fainthearted, nor the weak are allowed to flourish. Old resentments fester, and with Akbar Khan gone, new criminal gangs do their best to force their way into the Khan's territory.

This intelligently written debut brings a really interesting interpretation of the gangland crime genre. The mean and moody streets of Bradford, a city in turmoil, comes vividly to life  and the author's distinctive way of creating atmosphere gives the story an authentic feel. The narrative is beautifully written and so evocative of time and place I felt as if I was in the middle of the action, with a ring side seat, watching as the dramatic events unfolded.

The Khan is a tense and pacy crime novel which has at its heart the concept of loyalty. Loyalty to family, loyalty to beliefs and loyalty to culture and it is this strong code of conduct which makes The Khan such an exciting crime drama. 

About the Author

Saima has written for The Times,Guardian and Independent. Her essay for It's Not About the Burqa (Picador) appeared in Guardian Weekend and received over 250,000 hits online in two days. She has also contributed to the anthology The Best, Most Awful Job: Twenty Mothers Talk Honestly About Motherhood. Saima grew up in Bradford and now lives in London.

Twitter @SaimaMir #TheKhan

Website

@PointBlankCrime

@midaspr

@DESIblitz

Saima Mir's event at the festival is on the 25th September

For more information click here

For tickets to the event click  DESIblitz

Review ~ Stay Dead by Jessie Keane

Macmillan
September 2016

A bit of book blurb..

Stay Dead is the heart stopping sixth book in Jessie Keane's bestselling Annie Carter series. Annie Carter finally believes that life is good. She and Max are back together and she has a new and uncomplicated life sunning herself in Barbados. It's what she's always dreamed of. Then she gets the news that her old friend Dolly Farrell is dead, and suddenly she finds herself back in London and hunting down a murderer with only one thing on her mind ...revenge. But the hunter can so quickly become the hunted, and Annie has been keeping too many secrets. She's crossed and bettered a lot of people over the years, but this time the enemy is a lot closer to home and she may just have met her match.

My thoughts about the book..

This is the sixth book in the Annie Carter series and I sure that there are legions of this author's work who devour her  books as soon as they hit the bookshelf. As this was my first book by this author and therefore my first foray into the complicated world that Annie Carter inhabits, it must be said that I struggled with the story. Not because the writing lets it down, far from it, the plot and characterisation are very good, as the author clearly knows how to target her book towards her audience, but for me, it was more that without the benefit of knowing the series so far, I couldn't quite grasp the hidden nuances which make up so much of the story's overall effect.

There's no doubt that the author writes at a cracking good pace. The story moves along well and the hint of trouble and the constant threat of danger ensures that the story sits comfortably within the gangland crime/thriller genre. If you are already a fan then I am sure that you will love to see where Anna and Max's story moves along too,  however, if like me you are new to the Anna Carter series then it's probably better that you start at the very beginning, it seems like a very good place to start to get to know the fierce and feisty, Anna Carter. 

Best Read with... Large cups of coffee, heavy on the caffeine..

About the Author

Jessie Keane is a top twenty bestselling author. She's lived both ends of the spectrum, and her fascination with London's underworld led her to write Dirty Game, followed by best sellers Black Widow, Scarlet Women, Jail Bird,The Make, Playing Dead, Nameless, Ruthless (the fourth book to feature Annie Carter) and Lawless. Jessie's books have sold more than 750,000 copies, and she is a top 20 bestselling author. She now lives in Hampshire.

My thanks to Katie at Macmillan for my review copy of Stay Dead.



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