This French thriller is a timely tale of religious extremists and corrupt cops running up against each in inner-city Paris. Its characters are drawn into a nightmarish plot that makes for uneasy reading in the wake of the murderous reality of the Charlie Hebdo attack. It starts with Ahmed, a not very devoted Muslim, discovering the dead body of his neighbour and the beginnings of a plot to frame him for her murder. From there the plot moves backwards and forwards in time and across the Atlantic to New York as a criminal conspiracy involving religious fundamentalists of many different faiths is unravelled. First time novelist Miske, a filmmaker in his native France, offers up a poetic take on the traditional noir thriller which is one for crime fiction fans looking for something different to the usual tales of cops and robbers.
Book Review: Arab Jazz by Karim Miske (translated by Sam Gordon)
