Eastern promises

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While two of the authors in the book review today hail from the West, it’s interesting to note the settings of these three novels - and why my Eastern Promises title. One is set in Egypt and is described as ‘very Patricia Highsmith’, while the second is set in Japan and comes from a masked Japanese writer. The third takes place in Bahrain, during the Arab Spring. 

Havoc by Christopher Bollen  

Novels are often described as Highsmithian, alluding to Patricia Highsmith and her set of novels, of which The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers On the Train, would be the most familiar. It’s used to herald some new writer as ably blending Crime, with psychology, riveting characters, and atmosphere. Unfortunately, it’s used far too frequently, and quite often, in an undeserved manner. So it’s really rewarding to find it being used here and in an appropriate way. Maggie Burkhardt is 81 years old, a long term guest at the Royal Karnak in Luxor, Egypt. Following her husband’s death and the loss of her only daughter in Milwaukee, Maggie has been traveling the world, and has made Luxor her new ‘home’. Narrating this story, she readily admits to being a busybody, interfering in the lives of the other hotel guests, deciding she’s best equipped to make drastic changes in their lives.

It’s when a young mother and her precocious eight-year-old son, Otto, check into the Karnak that the plot thickens. Her spying on the other guests and intervening in their lives is observed by Otto, and for Maggie, she senses she may have found a kindred spirit, even if he’s one tenth her age. But rather than being an ally, Otto soon turns into an adversary; as manipulative a person, despite his age, as Maggie. And it’s not long before he proved to be more than a match for Maggie. Otto delves into her past, something that Maggie has ferociously kept secret, and the stakes are raised between the two, with collateral damage a constant occurrence. As a reader, your mouth will be left hanging open, as the vicious game escalates to points we would not have foreseen or dreamt of. Patricia Highsmith would indeed have raised an arm in salute to this novel of Bollen. 

Strange Pictures by Uketsu  

Uketsu is something of a cult figure in his native Japan. He’s an author of macabre mystery novels, but what sets him apart is how he never appears in public without a face mask and only speaks through a voice changer. He eschews live appearances and only appears online. Thus, he remains an elusive character, and no one knows who he really is, or what he looks like. A mystery himself, that hasn’t stopped his books from becoming bestsellers. As the title would suggest, his mysteries hinge on drawings made by the characters in his stories. In one chapter, it’s a drawing by a child of his home, with figures that represent him and his mother. While in another story, there’s a series of drawings made by a young woman before her untimely death. A sketch made by a murder victim during the victim’s final moments also has much to say if we can uncover the meaning. 

Each is a warning, with a terrible secret couched within the drawings. Clues in the strange pictures abound, and Uketsu challenges us to anticipate his explanations, and where we are heading, through these drawings. The strange pictures are revelations of the psychological state of the artists. And what’s amazing to discover is how these drawing are all related to one specific person and mysteries that surround the deaths of particular individuals. It’s in spinning this web of complicity, guilt, and intent that Uketsu takes away our collective breaths, and earns our admiration. To turn the drawings and pictures into revelations could have been simple enough, and required some basic background in psychology; but to turn a series of such pictures into a unified whole that unravels a set of mysteries over time is nothing short of ingenious and a masterful stroke. Sign me up for the next translated work of Uketsu. 

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I. S. Berry 

Shane Collins is a CIA spy who’s on his last legs, stationed in Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, during the time of the Arab Spring. So this would be from the early 2010’s to 2012. His putative mission is to uncover what support there is coming from Iran to unseat the ruling monarchy. Rashid is his valued informant from the Opposition, and it’s when random bombings in the sector where the ex-pats work and play take place that Collins’ superiors question whether his informant is any good, given there was no warning that these street bombs would go off. Rashid’s contention is how would he know when the bombings were not staged by them but covertly by the King, sacrificing the lives of innocent migrant workers, in order to create the tense situation of peace and order being threatened by the Opposition, so that the foreign embassies would promise aid and reenforcements to the Crown. 

It’s when Shane meets ‘Almaisa’, a local mosaic artist that his sense of loyalty and purpose becomes complicated. Berry actually worked with the CIA and was in Bahrain at the time of the Arab Spring, so she writes with a wealth of experience about the time and place. The relationship of Collins with his informant Rashid, how he protects him while keeping him on a long leash, and wanting to defend him when the information he’s passed on is being questioned - these all make for fascinating reading. When Almaisa is deemed a questionable person for Collins to consort with, given her family history of parents who openly protested against the monarchy, Collins makes some tough choices that imperil his status as a CIA operative in good standing. This novel picked up several awards last year and turned Berry into a spy thriller writer to look out for. Here’s to her cementing that promise with her next novel.