South London maths teacher Muhammad Khan’s debut was prompted by the stories of three British schoolgirls who fled to Syria in 2015 to join so called Islamic State.
Khan, who lost a family member to religious extremism, said he wrote young adult novel I Am Thunder as a way of looking at how people were led to make bad choices.
His heroine, Muzna Saleem, is an ordinary 15-year-old British schoolgirl who dreams of being a novelist, although her traditional Pakistani parents would prefer her to become a doctor.
Sensible and academic, Muzna’s head is turned when she moves school and meets the attractive Arif Malik who gradually lures her into a world of Muslim extremism.
Muzna realises she is getting into something dangerous but fears taking a stand could mean her losing Arif forever.
Khan’s characters are well drawn and the story, in large, believable, although the ending is a bit too neat.
