Abir Mukherjee- Hunted- @radiomukhers @harvillsecker @vintagebooks

It’s a week before the presidential elections when a bomb goes off in an LA shopping mall. In London, armed police storm Heathrow Airport and arrest Sajid Khan. His daughter Aliyah entered the USA with the suicide bomber, and now she’s missing, potentially plotting another attack. But then a woman called Carrie turns up at Sajid’s door after travelling halfway across the world. She claims Aliyah is with her son Greg, and she knows where they could be. Back in the US, Agent Shreya Mistry is closing in on the two fugitives. But the more she investigates, the more she realises there is more to this case than meets the eye and suspects a wider conspiracy. Hunted by the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to find their kids before the FBI does, and stop a catastrophe that will bring the country to its knees…

I think there is a huge weight of expectation for writers from readers and reviewers alike, who break away from their established series to flex their writing versatility. There have been several British crime writers recently who have done this very successfully, including William Shaw, Will Dean and Trevor Wood to name but three, producing high quality thrillers significantly different in tone and pace to their previous books. So seeing that Abir Mukherjee was releasing Hunted, a high octane thriller, having been so firmly immersed in his, it has to be said, blindingly brilliant British Raj Wyndham/Bannerjee series, my interest was well and truly piqued…

This book has already attracted a huge amount praise from not only readers and reviewers, but many across the crime writing community, so much so, that I wondered whether it was worth me adding my still, small voice to the mix. For the purposes of my review, I will only be dealing fleetingly with plot, as the twists and turns in this one are enough to give you virtual whiplash, and the revealing of spoilers was just far too hard to avoid. Suffice to say, I pitched it to a customer in the bookstore where I work as “so good, you won’t even want to go for a wee“…

What I will say is that there is a tremendously assured handling of plotting and tension, and I loved the changes of pace and mood, with Mukherjee speeding up and slowing down the plot very much reflecting the inner and outer torment of his protagonists. There was a beautiful balance between pace and introspection throughout, giving us the time and space to not only become completely involved in the intertwining narratives and characters, but also to stay engaged and compelled by the terrorism/ thriller aspect of the book. The plot itself is utterly gripping, and so apposite to the troubled and politically turbulent times we live in. References to contemporary situations and flashpoints are liberally sprinkled in every part of the storyline, both subtle and less nuanced, giving this a bang up to the minute feeling, as we make connections to the dichotomy of antagonistic views, policies and divisions that we observe throughout society today. Take it from me, the plot is superb…

Having read many thrillers over the years, I often get frustrated that in order to hold the reader by the short-and-curlies in terms of an immersive thriller, that sometimes the need to flesh out, and produce well-formed characters, frustratingly goes by the wayside for the wham, bam, and kapow moments. What particularly impressed me about this book was the weight and solidity that the protagonists have, be they major or more minor characters, and how astutely the author puts these characters under huge amounts of pressure within the plot. Agent Shreya Mistry is a ND character, who is not only fierce, determined and seemingly fearless, but also difficult to manage, being shifted from one field office to another, and not one to suffer fools gladly,

“an agent without a home: a problem without a solution.”

She has an innate talent for thinking outside the box, and not prone to making lazy assumptions about people, but whose private life is messy and complicated. I thought she was absolutely marvellous, and as the story ping-ponged between the three different narratives, I was exceptionally eager to get back to her, not only wondering what she would do next, but what bruised egos and path of destruction would lie in her wake,

“No it was better to sit there and take the crap; to listen to the man in authority. That’s what smart women always did, wasn’t it? Defer to a mediocre man.”

An incredibly mercurial woman, but who wouldn’t want her on their side when the chips are down, or the stakes are high?

I was incredibly moved by two characters in particular, Greg who is involved in the terrorist group wreaking havoc on civilian targets, and Sajid, a desperate father seeking to extricate his daughter from the self same group. Both these characters are written with a huge weight of empathy and pathos, having experienced either the worst that life can throw at them, or the general disdain of society at large, despite their best efforts to overcome this. Greg had served his country, but finds himself isolated and ostracised. Sajid aspires to be the best father he can be, but by doing right and encouraging his daughters to question and challenge, his efforts have ended in personal grief and persecution. I was completely emotionally invested in both of them, which made  the book an incredibly bitter-sweet reading experience, which again circumvents the traditional tropes of the thriller genre.

On a lighter note, I also had a particular affection for Mike Raven, who assists Mistry in gathering information by fair means or foul, with his gruff manner and general snarkiness “a surly old bastard with a penchant for…punk bands and little time for social niceties“- what a guy…

So there you have my two penn’orth to add to the clarion of voices raised in unison as to the brilliance of this thriller. Hunted is fast, furious, gripping, with a multitude of astute social and political observations, and peopled by an exceptional cast of characters from all walks of life, with such different backgrounds, beliefs, motivations and sensibilities. I think it’s fair to say, I loved it.

Highly recommended.

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Abir Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the award-winning Wyndham & Banerjee series of crime novels set in 1920s India. His books have been translated into fifteen languages and won various awards including the CWA Dagger for best Historical Novel, the Prix du Polar Européen, and the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing. He also co-hosts the popular Red Hot Chilli Writers podcast which takes a wry look at the world of books, writing, and the creative arts, tackling everything from bestsellers to pop culture. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in Surrey with his wife and two sons.
Website: abirmukherjee.com
Twitter, Threads & Instagram: @radiomukhers
Facebook: AuthorAbir

(With thanks to Harvill Secker for the ARC)