Books of the Week

Omar Saif Ghobash

Although its origins date back over 1,500 years, Islam is amongst the fastest growing religions in the world today. Unfortunately, given the current climate, it is also one of the most misunderstood and vilified. For a young Muslim growing up in the 21st century therefore, the question of how to be faithful to Islam and its inherent values, yet navigate the many challenges posed in the modern world, specifically in the face of extremist ideology, differing beliefs and Islamophobia, is a difficult one. So it is that Omar Saif Ghobash sets out in this book to encourage dialogue and examination of one's faith. Although as the title suggests, there is a personal motivation, the issues discussed are relevant to all, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and reflect on the need for new ways of thinking about the world that encompass tolerance, diversity and responsibility. Ghobash's is a brave and enlightened voice that goes a long way to countering much of the negative discourse that has come to surround Islam. He is quick to tackle some of the toughest questions that Muslims face today and the vision he presents is both poignant and affirmative. Above all, he stresses the role of the individual Muslim: "We have a duty... to bring our highest and best qualities to Islam as we practice it. If we do not, the deficiency is not with Islam, the deficiency is within us." This book is an absolute pleasure to read; it is a positive manifesto for our times that we could all learn something from.

The Bone Field

Simon Kernick

In the grounds of a Buckinghamshire school, the remains of two teenage girls have been discovered, many years after both their unsolved disappearances and, at the time, crimes that were seemingly unconnected. After receiving a phone call from Henry Forbes, who claims to know the origin of the bones, DI Ray Mason gets dragged into a fast-paced criminal chase as he tries to uncover the truth behind the stories of Kitty and Dana. Simon Kernick is a fantastic thriller writer, slowly uncovering key pieces of evidence to the reader, whilst making sure to constantly maintain our interest, making this book truly unputdownable. The Bone Field is an intriguing novel that really gets under your skin and, excitingly, the first in a series. Kernick is cleverly always one step ahead of the reader, as we try and guess the next piece of the puzzle before it unfolds. Never a dull moment, this fast-paced book is certain to keep you gripped to the very end.

Sirens

Joseph Knox

So short and dramatic has Joseph Knox written the chapters in his debut crime thriller, you'll lose hours at night allowing yourself to read 'just one more'. Page-turner is the only word for it. We meet our narrator, Detective Constable Aidan Waits in a brief, but intriguing prologue, that serves as a framing device for his reminiscences about the previous November. "I couldn't have explained the girls, the women, who had briefly entered my life. Briefly changed it." Waits is an anti-hero of sorts - damaged by a childhood in care, disgraced and suspended for stealing drugs from evidence lockers, he's given one last shot at redemption by Superintendent Parrs and sent undercover on a suicide mission to feed information to drugs kingpin Zain Carver, so the force can flush out a mole. He eases himself into the role, hanging out at Carver's seedy bars in Manchester, high on speed, but when a high-profile MP asks him to keep an eye on his teenage daughter Isabelle, who he meets at Carver's notorious parties, things start taking a more sinister turn. Posh kids start dying from bad drugs - and signs point to the resurgence of the Burnsiders, who could have killed Carver's old flame 10 years before. The 'sirens' Waits is drawn to aren't fleshed out nearly enough, compared to the huge cast of men, and serve as little more than expendable gangster's molls, but it's a cleverly plotted and convincing read.

Innocents And Others

Dana Spiotta

Filmmakers Carrie and Meadow are lifelong friends - despite making very different films and living very different lives. Meadow - a character reminiscent of Jenna from Lena Dunham's TV hit Girls - makes dark, art-house documentaries while sleeping with gorgeous men. Carrie makes comedies for women - more commercial, more stable and more reflective of her life - settled, married, happy. This novel about their relationship, the fourth by writer Dana Spiotta, flits between the two characters' lives. But interspersed throughout is the story of Amy, also known as Nicole or Jelly - a telemarketer suffering temporary blindness. She's addicted to catfishing Hollywood's finest screenwriters, directors and film composers - seducing them by massaging egos - but only ever on the phone. Jelly's relationship to Meadow and Carrie remains unknown for much of the book, until Meadow discovers Jelly and decides to make a film about her. It's then that questions of responsibility of both film director and film subject come into question. Although the pace of the novel can be slow at times, and in parts the descriptions of film technique too in-depth, it's a beautifully observed portrait of insecurity, loneliness and, in particular, friendship.