The Spy by Ajay Chowdhury

Detective Kamil Rahman has a lot on his plate: he may need to make a choice between the two most important women in his life; his professional career is not necessarily heading in the right direction; and back home in India his parents are struggling to accept his choices. 

When the imam he befriended disappeared and the violent conflict surrounding Kashmir back home are about to threaten the security and lives of Londoners, he is faced with some dramatic decisions. He will join MI5 under cover trying to inflitrate an extremist mosque where the next deadly attack is probably originate from. As the race to stop the attack starts, he is by far one of the most unluckiest spy in the recent history of spy thrillers, and by far not the usual hero.

The Spy by Ajay Chowdhury is the fourth book from the detective Kamil Rahman series and although it can be read as a stand alone, there are few references that may sound differently to someone familiar with the previous installments - not my case. 

Although from the very beginning the book starts on a very dramatic tone, and similar twists are changing the course of the story, what is in my opinion the strongest point of this book is the deep psychological manipulation of identity discourse. Using the ´oppressed´ narrative in order to manipulate hearts and minds through religious arguments may easily convince at first and second sight, especially if no other options are put on table. The perverse logic of this rhetoric may sound convincing not only in literary context, fuelled simply by the suicidal tendency to destroy and kill for the sake of escalation. 

There are a lot of serious thoughts to be left with after this book, but there are also purely enjoyable moments, including of high gourmet cuisine and Harry Potter´s clues based on which the smart and brave Anjoli was able to ultimately find a kidnapped boy leading to Kamil´s rescue.

I am tempted to give a try to other books from Kamil Rahman series as well, as I am sure it will give more context about the author and his characters as well. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review