I have come across very few books set in Pakistan. The crime fiction set in Pakistan which I read and liked is A case of exploding mangoes by Mohamed Hanif. This book also had a lot of humor!
The warlord's son is an exciting novel which gives a realistic picture of today's Pakistan &Afghanistan. The novel was thrilling and I loved the descriptions of the places in this book by Dan Fesperman. I have never visited these places but his descriptions of the place and people ring so true.
These books are a must read for anyone interested in knowing a little about the state of these places today. God knows, it is difficult for a curious tourist to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan today.
Reading these books, in the safety of your bedroom, gives one both thrills and information about Pakistan and Afghanistan, without the fear of whatever befalls visitors to these places.
I have to next read the books by Dan Fesperman, set in war torn Bosnia.
I had read a story by Kushwant Singh which was published by the illustrated weekly of India in the 70s or 80s which was 'like' crime fiction. It was about the debaucherous life of the Pakistani elite i.e. the politicians and the military. I think the illustrations for this series(or was it a single short story? I don't remember) was by M.F.Hussain. I don't remember the title too.
I would be so grateful if someone could tell me the title of this, if they remember reading this in the illustrated weekly of India.
I discovered that Ibn-E-Safi from Pakistan is a popular writer of crime fiction in the Urdu language. I have not read his books as I cant find them in Toronto.
Even if I found the books, I cant read Urdu...I need English translations. I am sure the English translation could not have captured the beauty of the poetic Urdu language!
http://urdunvls.blogspot.ca/2013/12/jasoosi-novels-jasoosi-dunya-by-ibn-e.html
The above link is a list of his books.
Pakistan, like India with it's endemic corruption should actually be an excellent resource for crime fiction writers! I hope more crime fiction comes from here to help non Pakistanis learn about Pakistan...in an interesting and entertaining manner!
Other crime fiction by Pakistani writers or stories set in Pakistan are here below. I have not read these books but got their names from the internet.
Akbar Agha: Juggernaut. Pub: 4 hour books, India
Cheryl Benard: Moghul buffet Soho crime publication
James Church:Bamboo and blood
Simon Conway: The agent runner
Jack Coughlin: Running the maze
Omar Shahid Hamid: (Book 1)The prisoner and (book 2) The prisoner Pub: Pam Macmillan, India
Naseem Hijazi :(1)Muhammad Bin Qasin(2) Shaheen (3)Dastaan-e-Mujahid(I don't think these books are in English)
David Ignatius: Blood money A novel of espionage
Humayun Iqbal AKA Sabiho Banu: Challawa written in Urdu and Farsi in the 60s and recently translated to English by Mohammad Hanif (about a Pakistani lesbian detective!) and appears as a short story in the book edited by Faiza S Khan (Pub: Hachette books) i.e. The Life's too short literary review 01:New writing from Pakistan
Mazhar Kaleem & Ishtiaq Ahmed: (1)Maka Zonga (2) Black Zero (3) Target mission (4)Kaghzi Qayyamat (5) Begaal Mission (6)Seamoon + G.Moff (7) Seamoon ki wapsi (8)Ghar ka samandar(I don't think these 8 books are in English)
Mary Louise Kelly: Anonymous sources
Shea Kinsella: Blood canal
Martin Lessem: A cloud in the desert
Khalid Muhammad: Agency Rules Never an easy day at the office Pub: Dead Drop Books, Pakistan
Robert A Shaines: Secrets in a time of peace
Yusuf Toropov: Jihadi- a love story
-------------------------
A wonderful non-crime fiction novel about a Pakistani family in USA I enjoyed was the American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar
Another wonderful book of non-crime short stories set in Pakistan I really admired is 'In other rooms, other wonders' by Daniyal Mueenuddin. Every character is so real, with all their human frailties and I discovered again, how similar the psyche, behavior, thinking and culture of Indians and Pakistanis is, through the characters in the stories. The stories and characters here could have just as easily been set in India. I loved this book and would be sooo grateful if I had the skill to write like this!
The warlord's son is an exciting novel which gives a realistic picture of today's Pakistan &Afghanistan. The novel was thrilling and I loved the descriptions of the places in this book by Dan Fesperman. I have never visited these places but his descriptions of the place and people ring so true.
These books are a must read for anyone interested in knowing a little about the state of these places today. God knows, it is difficult for a curious tourist to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan today.
Reading these books, in the safety of your bedroom, gives one both thrills and information about Pakistan and Afghanistan, without the fear of whatever befalls visitors to these places.
I have to next read the books by Dan Fesperman, set in war torn Bosnia.
What was amazing about The Devil's Banker by Christopher Reich was the accuracy of his description of certain places in Pakistan. I have never been there but I have been to places in India, which are similar and he has got the men's attitudes towards women, exactly as it is. And the description of their unwashed bodies, stinking of sweat is real. I wonder if Reich has been to Pakistan and experienced all this.
His description of an Indian villain in The rules of betrayal captures the behavior of chauvinistic men, with feelings of inferiority, who abound in many eastern cultures.(I am from the east and so if I sound racist, so be it..I have first hand experience of Indian men's behavior). The scene where a lady in a burka is surrounded by men and attacked by one, with the rest watching or cheering him on, is scary and unfortunately, all too common. I hope a lot of people read this book to understand the life of Pakistani people in general and women in particular.
I am looking forward to reading the book by a Pakistani police officer, which is crime fiction but based on real life incidents. This book has received rave reviews but not yet sold in Canada. The book is "The prisoner" by Omar Shahid Hamid, who worked as a police officer in Pakistan.
I am wondering if it is anything like Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games which is set in Bombay, India.
His description of an Indian villain in The rules of betrayal captures the behavior of chauvinistic men, with feelings of inferiority, who abound in many eastern cultures.(I am from the east and so if I sound racist, so be it..I have first hand experience of Indian men's behavior). The scene where a lady in a burka is surrounded by men and attacked by one, with the rest watching or cheering him on, is scary and unfortunately, all too common. I hope a lot of people read this book to understand the life of Pakistani people in general and women in particular.
I am looking forward to reading the book by a Pakistani police officer, which is crime fiction but based on real life incidents. This book has received rave reviews but not yet sold in Canada. The book is "The prisoner" by Omar Shahid Hamid, who worked as a police officer in Pakistan.
I am wondering if it is anything like Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games which is set in Bombay, India.
I had read a story by Kushwant Singh which was published by the illustrated weekly of India in the 70s or 80s which was 'like' crime fiction. It was about the debaucherous life of the Pakistani elite i.e. the politicians and the military. I think the illustrations for this series(or was it a single short story? I don't remember) was by M.F.Hussain. I don't remember the title too.
I would be so grateful if someone could tell me the title of this, if they remember reading this in the illustrated weekly of India.
I discovered that Ibn-E-Safi from Pakistan is a popular writer of crime fiction in the Urdu language. I have not read his books as I cant find them in Toronto.
Even if I found the books, I cant read Urdu...I need English translations. I am sure the English translation could not have captured the beauty of the poetic Urdu language!
http://urdunvls.blogspot.ca/2013/12/jasoosi-novels-jasoosi-dunya-by-ibn-e.html
The above link is a list of his books.
Pakistan, like India with it's endemic corruption should actually be an excellent resource for crime fiction writers! I hope more crime fiction comes from here to help non Pakistanis learn about Pakistan...in an interesting and entertaining manner!
Other crime fiction by Pakistani writers or stories set in Pakistan are here below. I have not read these books but got their names from the internet.
Akbar Agha: Juggernaut. Pub: 4 hour books, India
Cheryl Benard: Moghul buffet Soho crime publication
James Church:Bamboo and blood
Simon Conway: The agent runner
Jack Coughlin: Running the maze
Omar Shahid Hamid: (Book 1)The prisoner and (book 2) The prisoner Pub: Pam Macmillan, India
Naseem Hijazi :(1)Muhammad Bin Qasin(2) Shaheen (3)Dastaan-e-Mujahid(I don't think these books are in English)
David Ignatius: Blood money A novel of espionage
Humayun Iqbal AKA Sabiho Banu: Challawa written in Urdu and Farsi in the 60s and recently translated to English by Mohammad Hanif (about a Pakistani lesbian detective!) and appears as a short story in the book edited by Faiza S Khan (Pub: Hachette books) i.e. The Life's too short literary review 01:New writing from Pakistan
Mazhar Kaleem & Ishtiaq Ahmed: (1)Maka Zonga (2) Black Zero (3) Target mission (4)Kaghzi Qayyamat (5) Begaal Mission (6)Seamoon + G.Moff (7) Seamoon ki wapsi (8)Ghar ka samandar(I don't think these 8 books are in English)
Mary Louise Kelly: Anonymous sources
Shea Kinsella: Blood canal
Martin Lessem: A cloud in the desert
Khalid Muhammad: Agency Rules Never an easy day at the office Pub: Dead Drop Books, Pakistan
Robert A Shaines: Secrets in a time of peace
Yusuf Toropov: Jihadi- a love story
-------------------------
A wonderful non-crime fiction novel about a Pakistani family in USA I enjoyed was the American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar
Another wonderful book of non-crime short stories set in Pakistan I really admired is 'In other rooms, other wonders' by Daniyal Mueenuddin. Every character is so real, with all their human frailties and I discovered again, how similar the psyche, behavior, thinking and culture of Indians and Pakistanis is, through the characters in the stories. The stories and characters here could have just as easily been set in India. I loved this book and would be sooo grateful if I had the skill to write like this!
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