City of Jackals

April 1, 2016
One missing student from South Sudan is a puzzle; a second South Sudanese student found decapitated points to something altogether more disturbing. December 2005. The Hafiz family hires veteran Egyptian private investigator Makana to investigate the sudden disappearance of their son Mourad, a university student. Mourad has chosen to go into engineering rather than taking over the family's once-renowned restaurant, The Verdi Gardens, now past its prime. Mrs. Hafiz admits to Makana that they see Mourad rarely, and none of the family has any idea where he could be. The unconventional Makana, who lives on a boat, has become a friend and mentor to Aziza, the teenage daughter of his landlady. As he and Aziza walk by the river, a fisherman comes ashore with a severed head he's found. This discovery provides Makana the opportunity to question his friend Okasha, a police detective, about his own new case and hear Okasha's concern for the loneliness of Makana, who's still haunted by his wife's death more than a decade ago. With no real leads, the investigation proceeds slowly, though Makana learns from Mourad's roommate, Abdelhadi, that he kept late hours and was disdainful of religions. Makana finds himself drawn to the victim dredged from the river. He visits the coroner, Doctor Siham, who has concluded that the victim, who was tortured, was of Mundari ethnicity, just like Mourad--and indeed like Makana. Could the mysteries be related? This fifth case for Makana (The Burning Gates, 2015, etc.) again deftly wraps a whodunit around an eloquent, character-driven look at recent history.

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June 1, 2016

It is Egypt in December 2005, and the uprising known as the Arab Spring is beginning to stir. Makana has been hired to find Mourad Hafiz, who has disappeared from his college. As a former police chief in Sudan, Makana is dragged into the ethnic warfare of the refugees from South Sudan. A man of honor living in a city of upheaval and corruption, he tries to protect everyone he can. Following The Burning Gates, this fifth entry in the international thriller series is excellent.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 25, 2016
Set in 2005, Bilal’s enjoyable fifth Makana mystery (after 2015’s The Ghost Runner) finds the Cairo-based independent investigator searching for a missing university student, Mourad Hafiz. Makana’s efforts lead him first to a beheaded corpse and then to a person killed in a van involved in a tanker crash. The two deaths were of South Sudanese refugees, so they may be connected, but it’s not clear whether or how Mourad was involved. Makana wants to question Estrella, Mourad’s South Sudanese coworker in a fast-food joint, but she, too, has disappeared. Omar Shaddad, the owner of a string of pharmacies who employed the van driver, provides some leads, and Makana also discovers that Mourad may have been involved with a radical group. The suspense builds as various distractions conspire to slow Makana’s search. Bilal may not raise shivers—save for a sequence involving rats at a dilapidated palace—but he provides plenty of atmosphere. Agent: Euan Thorneycroft, A.M. Heath (U.K.).

Starred review from March 15, 2016
Cairo in 2005 is dangerously tense as Sudanese refugees protesting Egypt's punishing immigration policies create a squatter camp in the city's center. Private investigator Makana, a northern Sudanese, feels connected to the protesters, even though they are southern Sudanese fleeing attacks from the north. So it's fitting that Makana's latest investigations bring his new life in Egypt together with the dangers he fled in Khartoum. Cairo police detective Okasha refers to Makana the case of a missing university student. At the same time, a young boy's head bearing southern Sudanese tribal markings is found, and Makana is compelled to investigate, knowing the murder won't be a police priority. The cases connect when Makana discovers his missing Egyptian student had friends within the Sudanese refugee community and a deep desire to fight President Mubarek's oppressive and corrupt regime. Makana's journalist friend Sami, his driver Sindbad, and Cairo medical examiner Doctora Siham provide expertise as he tracks leads connecting the refugee camp, a local pharmaceutical company, a cutting-edge clinic, and a secretive American charity. This story marks new territory as Makana looks forward rather than back toward the family he lost in Khartoum. A new best for this absorbing series, this fifth entry (after The Burning Gates, 2015) offers a must-read, street-level look at African politics; a compelling personal journey; and a top-rate mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)