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The Times: Crime Books of the Year
In London, private investigator Dr Rayhana Crane is contacted by a woman who has received an unexpected letter from her estranged son Jason, not seen since he left to become a fighter for Islamic State. When his steps are traced back to the old stamping ground of her partner, Cal Drake, the former policeman goes undercover to infiltrate the sinister network which took Jason abroad.
Meanwhile, Crane pursues a woman whose seemingly unconnected disappearance off the English coast is soon found to reveal a deadlier connection. As the two investigators delve deeper, they find themselves mired in a violent world where terror and organised crime intersect.
Praise for The Divinities: Terrific crime fiction rooted in geopolitics
Bilal tells the story with ferocious, exhilarating energy . . . essential reading
A firecracker of a novel that delves deep into the rot infecting both politics and big business
— ERIC VAN LUSTBADER, author of The Bourne Legacy
Told with a delicate elegance . . . It promises to be a fine series
A brilliantly-written London Noir from a master of the crime genre
— MASON CROSS, author of Presumed Dead
A fresh and vivid portrait of a city that is less melting pot than explosive pressure cooker
A razor-sharp reimagining of hard-boiled crime fiction transposed to a noirish London. With themes of power, violence and betrayal, The Trenches is smart, complex and that rarest of things: utterly original
Parker Bilal has his finger on the racing pulse of London, a multicultural nexus of organised crime and terrorism whether you’re in a swanky penthouse or on a sink estate. The miasma of corruption is inescapable; bile and rage make the prose sting. A senior cop remarks: 'It’s a f***ed up world whichever way you look at it.' That’s why we need and read excellent crime fiction like this
Parker Bilal is the author of the Makana Investigations series, the third of which, The Ghost Runner, was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The Divinities, the first in his Crane & Drake London crime series, was published in 2019. Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, the critically acclaimed literary novelist. Born in London, he has lived in a number of places, including the UK, Denmark, Spain and, currently, the Netherlands.
@Parker_Bilal | jamalmahjoub.com