The Ghost Runner: A Makana Investigation(Makana Mysteries)

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.

About the Author :
Parker Bilal is the pseudonym for Jamal Mahjoub. Born in London and brought up in Khartoum, Sudan, Mahjoub originally trained as a geologist and has written six critically acclaimed literary novels. His works include In the Hour of Signs, Travelling with Djinns, The Carrier, and The Drift Latitudes, as well as the first two novels in the Makana Mystery series, The Golden Scales and Dogstar Rising. He currently lives in Barcelona.

Review :
"Since we can't count on visiting Cairo right now, we might as well binge on Parker Bilal's atmospheric mysteries set in that city and featuring his distinctive private detective, a Sudanese refugee known as Makana...[An] excellent series...The story is set in the unsettled period during the Israeli invasion of the West Bank, which allows Bilal to write in great depth and detail about Egypt's turbulent political landscape. But it's the tragic story of one girl that really captures the climate of fear and rage that has come to define life in a perpetual war zone." --The New York Times Book Review "The conclusion will startle and exhilarate readers... This superb novel executes a slow build-up, exploring Middle Eastern cultural practices and explaining historical context. Thus drawn in, readers will be mesmerized by the rippling events that occur in quick order." --Library Journal, starred review "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." --Booklist, starred review "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 Reviews "Well-crafted... concludes with satisfying dashes of action and keen deduction." --Publishers Weekly