Dark Water

May 8, 2017
Set in 2006, Bilal’s tense sixth mystery featuring the Sudanese refugee turned PI Makana (after 2016’s City of Jackals) demonstrates the author’s ability to immerse the reader in the richness, vibrancy, and dynamism of its various locales, starting with Cairo, where Makana is approached by Marcus Winslow, a British intelligence agent. Winslow persuades the private eye to agree to participate in a perilous mission to help an Iraqi scientist, Ayman Nizari, who may have committed atrocious war crimes, flee a dangerous situation in Istanbul. In return for sanctuary, Nizari has promised to give them not only the location of an almost mythical jihadist named Abu Hilal, but also evidence that Makana’s daughter—who he thought died along with his wife in a car accident nearly 17 years earlier—is alive. Although some sequences strain the boundaries of believability, the relentless pacing and meticulously descriptive prose make this a page-turner. Agent: Euan Thorneycroft, A.M. Heath (U.K.).

May 1, 2017
An Egyptian detective is lured into protecting a maverick scientist in hiding from terrorists. But who's the real target?An unnamed orphan girl who undergoes intense physical training is offered a promising future. Meanwhile, Cairo private investigator Makana gets an unusual offer from the queen's government, represented by veddy British Marcus Winslow. Chemical weapons expert Ayman Nizari is in hiding in Istanbul from terrorist leader Abu Halil, who wants to force him to make deadly weapons. Makana is asked to shepherd Nizari to safety. The clincher: Winslow reports that Nizari has information about Makana's daughter, thought to be dead but very much alive. (Could she be that girl from the prologue?) It disturbs Makana further that he can find no record of a Marcus Winslow. Yet despite the risk, Makana feels that he has no choice. Every new person Makana encounters in Istanbul seems slightly suspicious: the bellboy at his hotel, the Dutch businessman who tries to strike up a casual conversation, even his local guide. Winslow keeps in close contact by phone. Because he doesn't speak Turkish, Makana's progress is incremental and slow. On the third day of his assignment, he has a brief encounter with Nizari, who flees before any meaningful conversation can transpire. But the closer Makana gets to Nizari and possible answers, the more menacing forces seem to confront him. Has he fallen into a trap? Bilal's sixth (City of Jackals, 2016, etc.) again plants a seed of suspense as an entree into a nuanced look at an unfamiliar culture.

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June 1, 2017
After fleeing Somalia, former police inspector Makana has reestablished himself as a respected private investigator in Cairo. Makana typically handles missing-persons cases, so it's strange when Marcus Winslow, a British intelligence agent, approaches him for help with extracting a fugitive weapons chemist from Istanbul. Referencing mutual friends in Khartoum, the chemist will only leave with Makana. Still, Makana refuses the case until Winslow reveals that the chemist claims to have proof that Makana's daughter, thought to have died while escaping Khartoum, is alive. In Istanbul, Makana is stalked by Mossad, competing factions of British intelligence, and Turkish agents as he attempts to make contact with his skittish target. Luckily, Makana isn't as far from his wheelhouse as he feared, and he's able to rely on his uncanny ability to read people to solve the murder and forge new underworld connections. The sixth Makana tale is a tense, yet contemplative, installment in this bar-raising series, and it offers fans long-awaited answers to lingering questions, along with the expertly conjured setting and characters they've come to expect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)