The author, who writes thrillers centered around trains, has produced an uncanny recreation of Middle Eastern life and politics in 1917 - a crucial year of WW I - evoking period, place and personalities with great sensitivity. The reader feels the stifling heat and the equally stifling bewilderment suffered by the protagonist. who doesn't quite know why he is in Baghdad and what he has to do. An unusual book, which takes patience to read, but most worth while.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 66 Autumn 2012 ) |
