Hussaini seamlessly blends compelling characters, thought-provoking situations, an impeccable discourse on Islamic history...
Manuscript-examiner Edward Fleming’s search for his missing colleague leads to Saudi Arabia—and the unveiling of deadly secrets that threaten the entire foundation of Islam—in Hussaini’s action-packed historical thriller.
When Kimberly, an American researcher, takes her interest in Fatima, the oppressed daughter of the Prophet Mohammed, to Dr. Fayazi, she sets in motion a chain of events that range from the murder of a prominent builder, Abdul Zahra, to a worldwide Internet virus claiming to reveal the truth of the Musehaf Fatima, or Book of Fatima. From the beginning, Hussaini’s novel, in the spirit of Dan Brown, thrusts readers into a powerful murder scene. Weaving intriguing dialogue with crisp storytelling and an electric plot, Hussaini ensures that the adrenaline flow never stops. In addition to an exotic setting, the dynamic, entertaining cast of characters will keep the pages turning. Every character adds an intriguing element to the story, whether it’s Princess Safiya driving everyone around in her Bentley and Hummer, Zain’s mysterious behavior when speaking of the Musehaf Fatima, Dr. Fayazi’s fanaticism for the Musehaf, Vane’s calm demeanor and killer mentality or the partial amnesia that erases parts of Edward’s life. More importantly, the author does an exceptional job of accurately providing historical insight into a religion and a way of life that many are oblivious to and label as controversial. As each clue is unveiled in the desert landscape, readers learn about the warrior Emam Ali, the injustice done unto Fatima, the noble life of the Prophet Mohammed and perhaps the golden nuggets of wisdom that are buried within the Musehaf Fatima. The fact that the entire ordeal spans only 24 hours is a bit difficult to digest, especially because Edward and company travel from Mecca to Medina and to a host of holy Islamic sites; however, this is hardly a flaw as it only adds to the heart-wrenching pace and excitement for the reader. There are those that will kill to keep the Musehaf Fatima hidden; there are others who will die to reveal the truth of Fatima.
Hussaini seamlessly blends compelling characters, thought-provoking situations, an impeccable discourse on Islamic history and a unique style and language to deliver an unparalleled historical thriller that will have readers anticipating his next novel, Echos of Fatima.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-0983902324
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Barbed Wires
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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