The body of a woman, violently murdered and possibly tortured, washes up on a beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The local police initially don't want to bother investigating, as the woman was probably just a non-Arab domestic servant killed by her employer. But forensic scientist Katya Hijazi is determined to find the murderer, and draws in Nayir Sharqi, a desert guide who helped her in a previous case. It turns out that the victim was a free-lance photographer, who pushed the boundaries of the conservative Muslim society while pursuing stories on the status of women and a possible alternate version of the Quran. Leila (the victim) was also connected to an American security guard who has mysteriously disappeared, leaving his wife, Miriam, isolated and fearful in a male-dominated world.
Katya and Nayir first appeared in Ms Ferraris book, Finding Nouf. They are constantly at odds--with mutual attraction vying with society's expectations and obligations regarding communication between the sexes and with the proper role for women in an Orthodix Islamic culture. In this second book the author has added another character, Inspector Osama Ibrahim, who also struggles to balance his progressive views on women with traditional expectations for a wife and family.
The mystery is compelling and the descriptions of life in and Islamic society and moving and insightful. I highly recommend both Finding Nouf and City of Veils.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
This was a great book for a three-day weekend (400+ pages). Incarceron refers to prison-world, created as a perfect society to isolate and at the same time care for felons and others deemed dangerous to the Outside. But the society has devolved into a grim, violent tyranny, where technology is now used to repress and spy on the subservient population and deceit, murder and thievery are necessary to survive. Prisoner oath-brothers Finn and Keiro, along with the former slave Attia and the Sapient Gildas, join forces in a quest to escape from Incarceron, using Finn's visions, belief in a better world, and the possession of a magic key.
On the Outside, there is a matching key, which enables its owner to communicate with those inside the prison. Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, discovers it when she sneaks into her father's private study. Claudia and and her tutor Jared (another Sapient) struggle to solve its mysteries and to save the prisoners. At the same time they must also contend with her father's ambitious marriage plans for her and with the politics and plotting that govern life in the Outside.
The story lines weave together, as Finn and Claudia realize they depend on each other for their freedom. The futuristic world is creepy and cautionary, with questions about life, loyalty and human frailty.
On the Outside, there is a matching key, which enables its owner to communicate with those inside the prison. Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, discovers it when she sneaks into her father's private study. Claudia and and her tutor Jared (another Sapient) struggle to solve its mysteries and to save the prisoners. At the same time they must also contend with her father's ambitious marriage plans for her and with the politics and plotting that govern life in the Outside.
The story lines weave together, as Finn and Claudia realize they depend on each other for their freedom. The futuristic world is creepy and cautionary, with questions about life, loyalty and human frailty.
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