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Rachel Getty & Esa Khattak #4
A Dangerous Crossing
From the critically acclaimed author of The Unquiet Dead, this is a devastatingly powerful new thriller that will stay with you long after the final page.
For Inspector Esa Khattak and Sergeant Rachel Getty, the Syrian refugee crisis is about to become personal. Esa’s childhood friend, Nathan Clare, calls him in distress: his sister, Audrey, has vanished from a Greek island where the siblings run an NGO. Audrey had been working to fast-track refugees to Canada, but now, she is implicated in the double-murder of a French Interpol agent and a young man who had fled the devastation in Syria.
Esa and Rachel arrive in Greece to a shocking scene, witnessing for themselves the massive fallout of the Syrian war in the wretched refugee camps. Tracing Audrey’s last movements, they meet some of the volunteers and refugees—one of whom, Ali, is involved in a search of his own, for a girl whose disappearance may be connected to their investigation. The arrival of Sehr Ghilzai—a former prosecutor who now handles refugee claims for Audrey’s NGO—further complicates the matter for Esa, as his feelings towards her remain unresolved.
Working against time, with Interpol at their heels, Esa and Rachel follow a trail that takes them from the beaches of Greece, to the Turkish–Syrian border, and across Europe, reaching even the corridors of power in the Netherlands. Had Audrey been on the edge of a dangerous discovery, hidden at the heart of this darkest of crises—one which ultimately put a target on her own back?
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 13, 2018
40 people are currently reading
1392 people want to read
About the author
Ausma Zehanat Khan
18 books926 followersAusma Zehanat Khan is a British-born Canadian living in the United States, whose own parents are heirs to a complex story of migration to and from three different continents. A former adjunct professor at American and Canadian universities, she holds a Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law, with the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as the main subject of her dissertation. Previously the Editor in Chief of Muslim Girl Magazine, Ausma Zehanat Khan has moved frequently, traveled extensively, and written compulsively. Her new crime series debuted with 'Blackwater Falls' in November 2022. She is also the author of 5 books and 1 novella in the Esa Khattak/Rachel Getty mystery series, including the award-winning 'The Unquiet Dead'. And she is the author of The Khorasan Archives fantasy series, beginning with 'The Bloodprint'. She has also written a middle grade non-fiction book called 'Ramadan'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
July 30, 2019
This is my first read of this series featuring Inspector Esa Khattak and Sergeant Rachel Getty, RMCP community policing partners in Toronto. This is a intelligent, considered and such a moving addition, so impressively researched from an author with expertise in Human Rights Law, which she uses remarkably effectively in this emotionally harrowing book on the complexities and horrors of the Global Refugee Crisis, the terrors of the Syrian War, and the flood of fleeing refugees it created. Nathan Clare, a friend of Esa's, has a sister, Audrey, a NGO at a migrant refugee camp on the Greek Island of Lesvos who has gone missing, and a French Interpol Agent and a young Syrian man have been discovered dead. Nathan is a powerful man with the ability to influence the Canadian PM, that results in Esa and Rachel travelling to the Mediterranean for Lesvos, to find out what happened to Audrey.
What they find is an unimaginable nightmare, a squalid and abysmal camp, a harrowing and disturbing picture of homeless, destitute, and vulnerable refugees facing starvation, despair, violence, and criminals who prey on and exploit them in a climate of implacable opposition to migrants, racism and religious intolerance. It is barely surprising that the refugees are distrustful as Esa and Rachel try to find out where Audrey might be, does she have dangerous knowledge that caused her to flee? Esa is a middle aged moderate Muslim with a modern outlook, and the Jewish Rachel has a traumatic past, and the pair have a close working relationship in this dark, intense and tense mystery as the many threads slowly begin to connect.
This is not an easy read, but it is an important one, a much needed informative novel that explores and depicts one of the most problematic and intractable issues of our age, the plight of refugees. It is heartbreaking in its simultaneous picture of the inhumanity of people juxtaposed with the humanity of those trying to do good. Khan writes with compassion, in a narrative that is infused with hope amidst the gut wrenching horrors and tragedies visited on refugees, the desperate state of Syria under Assad, the rise of Fortress Europe, whilst the humanitarian agencies struggle to cope with the ever growing crisis. This is not a read without flaws, for instance, I was irritated with the romantic elements that felt they had little place in the story, but the pertinent social and political commentary it provides makes it a must read, a novel which gives the reader an invaluable opportunity to learn about the grim realities of our world today. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.
What they find is an unimaginable nightmare, a squalid and abysmal camp, a harrowing and disturbing picture of homeless, destitute, and vulnerable refugees facing starvation, despair, violence, and criminals who prey on and exploit them in a climate of implacable opposition to migrants, racism and religious intolerance. It is barely surprising that the refugees are distrustful as Esa and Rachel try to find out where Audrey might be, does she have dangerous knowledge that caused her to flee? Esa is a middle aged moderate Muslim with a modern outlook, and the Jewish Rachel has a traumatic past, and the pair have a close working relationship in this dark, intense and tense mystery as the many threads slowly begin to connect.
This is not an easy read, but it is an important one, a much needed informative novel that explores and depicts one of the most problematic and intractable issues of our age, the plight of refugees. It is heartbreaking in its simultaneous picture of the inhumanity of people juxtaposed with the humanity of those trying to do good. Khan writes with compassion, in a narrative that is infused with hope amidst the gut wrenching horrors and tragedies visited on refugees, the desperate state of Syria under Assad, the rise of Fortress Europe, whilst the humanitarian agencies struggle to cope with the ever growing crisis. This is not a read without flaws, for instance, I was irritated with the romantic elements that felt they had little place in the story, but the pertinent social and political commentary it provides makes it a must read, a novel which gives the reader an invaluable opportunity to learn about the grim realities of our world today. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.
March 14, 2018
3.5 When Nathan Clare asks for his friend Esa's help to find his sister Audrey, who is missing in Greece, trying to help the refugees, he accepts. With the approval of the prime minister, he and his partner Rachel, find themselves in Greece, right in the midst of the crisis. This is an unusual series in that Esa is a Canadian police officer who is also a Muslim, it is also more literary that other offerings in this genre. This is the fourth in series, and is as strong as those who came before.
The second book, this one a novel,highlighting the refugee crisis. Although fiction, it was as disturbing as the nonfiction book I read. The figures of those seeking safety, the danger they put themselves in seeking safety,the agencies trying to help and those trying to exploit. So many of the young go missing, over 10,000 used as slaves,many as sex slaves. The storyline was at times confusing, so many involved, it was hard to keep track of who was who. It was, however, a worthy read, taking a current,horrific crisis and building a story around real facts. The author's note at books end highlights the true facts behind this terrible crime against humanity, a crisis with no easy answers, and no end in sight.
ARC from Netgalley.
The second book, this one a novel,highlighting the refugee crisis. Although fiction, it was as disturbing as the nonfiction book I read. The figures of those seeking safety, the danger they put themselves in seeking safety,the agencies trying to help and those trying to exploit. So many of the young go missing, over 10,000 used as slaves,many as sex slaves. The storyline was at times confusing, so many involved, it was hard to keep track of who was who. It was, however, a worthy read, taking a current,horrific crisis and building a story around real facts. The author's note at books end highlights the true facts behind this terrible crime against humanity, a crisis with no easy answers, and no end in sight.
ARC from Netgalley.
February 19, 2025
4 stars
Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press and the author for sending me this ARC ebook. I found the the story to be absorbing and depressing. Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak, RCMP police officer partners, are sent to Greece on a personal mission by the Prime Minister to find a Canadian who has gone missing on the Greek island of Lesvos, near mainland Turkey. She is the sister of a rich friend of the PM.
Audrey Clare was on the island as a volunteer, helping refugees coming to the island in hopes of finding a new home in the European Union. The book weaves the elements of human suffering, human trafficking, people smugglers and the abysmal conditions of the refugee camps into a coherent whole. Esa and Rachel do find Audrey and we get glimpses of their complicated personal lives, evidently discussed in previous books in this series. This is book 4 in the series and I suspect that I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books in the series. Still, I recommend it.
One quote: "The pain of it struck him, in new and vulnerable places. He was leaving his history behind. The city of jasmine, the country that desolated childhood. In Turkey, everything was different: a mixture of fear, lonieliness, desperation, hunger, ridicule and cruelty; exploitation leavened by occasional kindness."
Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press and the author for sending me this ARC ebook. I found the the story to be absorbing and depressing. Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak, RCMP police officer partners, are sent to Greece on a personal mission by the Prime Minister to find a Canadian who has gone missing on the Greek island of Lesvos, near mainland Turkey. She is the sister of a rich friend of the PM.
Audrey Clare was on the island as a volunteer, helping refugees coming to the island in hopes of finding a new home in the European Union. The book weaves the elements of human suffering, human trafficking, people smugglers and the abysmal conditions of the refugee camps into a coherent whole. Esa and Rachel do find Audrey and we get glimpses of their complicated personal lives, evidently discussed in previous books in this series. This is book 4 in the series and I suspect that I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books in the series. Still, I recommend it.
One quote: "The pain of it struck him, in new and vulnerable places. He was leaving his history behind. The city of jasmine, the country that desolated childhood. In Turkey, everything was different: a mixture of fear, lonieliness, desperation, hunger, ridicule and cruelty; exploitation leavened by occasional kindness."
January 16, 2018
3.75 stars.
I have read three of the four books in Ausma Zehanat Khan’s Getty and Khattak series, and I think A Dangerous Crossing was my favourite.
Khan’s series is based in Toronto and always focuses on crimes that have a contemporary international facet. In this case, Getty and Khattak are called upon to investigate the disappearance of a Canadian women working to assist with Syrian refugees in Greece. Khan does an impressive job of taking a fairly close look at the complexity and brutality of what is happening in Syria, the plight of refugees and the reaction of the international community. This was my favourite part of the book, and I feel that Khan is really improving her ability to highlight complex political issues while telling a good story.
I have one caveat, but not serious enough to deter me from enjoying her books. I do find that, unlike other mystery series that I really like, Khan is a bit heavy handed with her characters’ emotions – especially when it comes to their various romantic interests. In the blink of an eye, they go from solving serious crimes and uncovering atrocities to being preoccupied with their respective fraught love interests. This explains my small deduction from a 4 star rating.
I will nevertheless continue to read Khan’s books. I love the Toronto setting and her engagement with contemporary international issues. I just hope the characters mature a bit in their private lives…
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.
I have read three of the four books in Ausma Zehanat Khan’s Getty and Khattak series, and I think A Dangerous Crossing was my favourite.
Khan’s series is based in Toronto and always focuses on crimes that have a contemporary international facet. In this case, Getty and Khattak are called upon to investigate the disappearance of a Canadian women working to assist with Syrian refugees in Greece. Khan does an impressive job of taking a fairly close look at the complexity and brutality of what is happening in Syria, the plight of refugees and the reaction of the international community. This was my favourite part of the book, and I feel that Khan is really improving her ability to highlight complex political issues while telling a good story.
I have one caveat, but not serious enough to deter me from enjoying her books. I do find that, unlike other mystery series that I really like, Khan is a bit heavy handed with her characters’ emotions – especially when it comes to their various romantic interests. In the blink of an eye, they go from solving serious crimes and uncovering atrocities to being preoccupied with their respective fraught love interests. This explains my small deduction from a 4 star rating.
I will nevertheless continue to read Khan’s books. I love the Toronto setting and her engagement with contemporary international issues. I just hope the characters mature a bit in their private lives…
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.
February 18, 2018
In her latest novel, Khan's Canadian police duo are tasked by their Prime Minister with discovering what has happened to Audrey Clare, a Canadian citizen working with an NGO in Greece, helping Syrian refugees who have washed up on Greek islands. While she has been trying to help these people no one wants, she has apparently run afoul of some person or group...she has disappeared and two people working with her are dead, shot dead.
This detective work will require tact as well as tactics, as they will be meeting with politicians, government officials, members of other police services, refugees themselves, who have no reason to trust anyone, idealistic volunteers at the refugee sites, and representatives of those groups opposing all migrants, no matter what their story.
This book is as current as it is exciting. It also opens up the inner lives of both Rachel and Esa as they each, in their own way, slowly chart paths forward in their personal lives.
Khan provides a brief history of the war in Syria as well as two bibliographies for extra reading; the first provides non-fiction, history sources while the second provides cultural, interview, and other stories since the beginning of this war.
I strongly recommend this book and series. I'm already
looking forward to the next episode.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This detective work will require tact as well as tactics, as they will be meeting with politicians, government officials, members of other police services, refugees themselves, who have no reason to trust anyone, idealistic volunteers at the refugee sites, and representatives of those groups opposing all migrants, no matter what their story.
This book is as current as it is exciting. It also opens up the inner lives of both Rachel and Esa as they each, in their own way, slowly chart paths forward in their personal lives.
Khan provides a brief history of the war in Syria as well as two bibliographies for extra reading; the first provides non-fiction, history sources while the second provides cultural, interview, and other stories since the beginning of this war.
I strongly recommend this book and series. I'm already
looking forward to the next episode.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
August 21, 2019
Returning to her full-length novels, Ausma Zehanat Khan takes the reader into another of the crises facing the Muslim population today, with a Canadian flavouring in this police procedural. Two bodies turn up on a Greek island, one a French INTERPOL agent and the other a Syrian refugee. A Canadian NGO has been processing Syrians for relocation in North America and its founder has gone missing. After a rocky time for the Community Policing Section, Inspectors Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty are back on their feet. Khattak is approached by his close friend, Nathan Clare, that it was his sister, Audrey, who has been heading up Woman 2 Woman and is nowhere to be found. A series of emails between Nathan and his sister provides some assistance in trying to put the situation into context, though it is not enough. Khattak remains highly professional, knowing that he is still being eyed for any misstep. However, the Canadian Prime Minister is also trying to make a difference in his image as it relates to the refugee crisis and has given Khattak free rein to work. Khattak and Getty work angles in and around Toronto, where they learn more about the NGO, but it will not be enough. They travel to the Greek island, where there is much more to learn about the influx of refugees from Syria and surrounding countries. Khattak learns of the European distaste for these ‘migrants’ and must come to understand how a world of haves can refuse help to those who are fleeing nothing. There is also the iron fist of the Syrian government, happy to slay anyone trying to escape the country. Khattak and Getty will have to work hard, not only to understand the Syrian crisis, but to locate Audrey Clare and determine who committed the murders that started this entire investigation. There are more secrets, layered inside bureaucracy and deceptions meant to keep the truth from seeing the light of day. A brilliant piece that packs a punch, allowing Khan to portray a powerful message that will not let the reader ignore the issue at hand. Recommended to those who have loved the series to date, as well as readers who enjoy something deeper that allows them to learn a little while being entertained with great storytelling.
Khan has yet to let up with her full-length novels, keen on addressing some of the major issues facing the more vulnerable portions of the Muslim world. With the current refugee crisis in Syria, the novel seeks to focus much of its attention on the plight of those fleeing horrible conditions while also trying to settle in a new homeland that is both helpful and accepting. Esa Khattak again becomes the voice of reason when it comes to the treatment of Muslims, offering his perspective and insights into the acceptance that Canada has for those in need. He must balance this with the knowledge that his own job is on the line, forcing him to make choices that are not only prudent, but can easily be explained up the chain of command. There is, again, some backstory that relates to his own family, which is embedded into the larger narrative and allows the reader to better understand him, if only for a time. Rachel Getty has her own role to play in the story, torn between trying to see things from a perspective not her own while wrestling with emotions as they relate to a man who is not even formally in her romantic sphere. Series readers will have seen hints throughout but it is all coming to a head, forcing Getty to decide which path to take. There are countless others who find themselves a part of this book. Each character brings something to the narrative and helps to shape the messaging that Khan wishes to portray. I have come to see that she uses her characters with a real intention and does not drop a subplot or individual into the narrative for no reason. It is the attentive reader who can extract the needed information and add it to the story being told. This enrichment makes the reader all the more aware of what is going on and helps to push along the intended message. While the Syrian situation has been going on for a while, it was only after reading this book that I had a better understanding of how things have been going. Refugees come from all parts of the world, but it is more than just opening the border as a compassionate nation. There are politics around refugees and migrants that surpass safety of those in need. These decisions are surely quite difficult and somewhat precarious, forcing politicians to think of a number of interests before making a decision. Khan definitely knows how to fuel the fire with this book (and her others), making it a wonderful choice for a reading group not hesitant to have clashing opinions.
Kudos, Madam Khan, for making me think. I need that when reading, even as I sit here on vacation.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Khan has yet to let up with her full-length novels, keen on addressing some of the major issues facing the more vulnerable portions of the Muslim world. With the current refugee crisis in Syria, the novel seeks to focus much of its attention on the plight of those fleeing horrible conditions while also trying to settle in a new homeland that is both helpful and accepting. Esa Khattak again becomes the voice of reason when it comes to the treatment of Muslims, offering his perspective and insights into the acceptance that Canada has for those in need. He must balance this with the knowledge that his own job is on the line, forcing him to make choices that are not only prudent, but can easily be explained up the chain of command. There is, again, some backstory that relates to his own family, which is embedded into the larger narrative and allows the reader to better understand him, if only for a time. Rachel Getty has her own role to play in the story, torn between trying to see things from a perspective not her own while wrestling with emotions as they relate to a man who is not even formally in her romantic sphere. Series readers will have seen hints throughout but it is all coming to a head, forcing Getty to decide which path to take. There are countless others who find themselves a part of this book. Each character brings something to the narrative and helps to shape the messaging that Khan wishes to portray. I have come to see that she uses her characters with a real intention and does not drop a subplot or individual into the narrative for no reason. It is the attentive reader who can extract the needed information and add it to the story being told. This enrichment makes the reader all the more aware of what is going on and helps to push along the intended message. While the Syrian situation has been going on for a while, it was only after reading this book that I had a better understanding of how things have been going. Refugees come from all parts of the world, but it is more than just opening the border as a compassionate nation. There are politics around refugees and migrants that surpass safety of those in need. These decisions are surely quite difficult and somewhat precarious, forcing politicians to think of a number of interests before making a decision. Khan definitely knows how to fuel the fire with this book (and her others), making it a wonderful choice for a reading group not hesitant to have clashing opinions.
Kudos, Madam Khan, for making me think. I need that when reading, even as I sit here on vacation.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
July 30, 2019
Another unflinching novel from Khan who uses the structure of crime fiction to brilliantly expose and publicise flashpoint political issues. Her first book The Unquiet Dead still haunts me with its engagement with genocide and war crimes in the Balkans conflicts; this one, the fourth in the series, comes a close second as she takes on the plight of Syria and the refugee crisis.
It's often the case that 'issues' crime becomes unbalanced, focusing on either the politics or the fiction: Khan always melds the two seamlessly. There is no story without the politics, and no-one writes more humanely yet incisively about Syrian politics and the tragic fallout. Lacking sentimentality (there's no awful hand-wringing here) but never heart or moral weight, this does a fine job of navigating through the worst as well as the best of humanity: the silent, often unrecognised, work of charities, aid development agencies and, especially, volunteers is given a central place in the story.
I guess it's fine to jump into this series here but do be aware that there are complicated relationships at stake that depend on the earlier books - and, trust me, it's no hardship to read the earlier novels, all of which are strong stories that foreground important contemporary issues as well as giving insight into modern identity politics.
Intelligent, politically- and morally-engaged, with some lovely writing and vivid characterisation, I've been surprised for a few years now that this series is not better known or more lauded - I'd love to see this as Khan's breakthrough book.
Many thanks to Oldcastle/No Exit Press for an ARC via NetGalley.
It's often the case that 'issues' crime becomes unbalanced, focusing on either the politics or the fiction: Khan always melds the two seamlessly. There is no story without the politics, and no-one writes more humanely yet incisively about Syrian politics and the tragic fallout. Lacking sentimentality (there's no awful hand-wringing here) but never heart or moral weight, this does a fine job of navigating through the worst as well as the best of humanity: the silent, often unrecognised, work of charities, aid development agencies and, especially, volunteers is given a central place in the story.
I guess it's fine to jump into this series here but do be aware that there are complicated relationships at stake that depend on the earlier books - and, trust me, it's no hardship to read the earlier novels, all of which are strong stories that foreground important contemporary issues as well as giving insight into modern identity politics.
Intelligent, politically- and morally-engaged, with some lovely writing and vivid characterisation, I've been surprised for a few years now that this series is not better known or more lauded - I'd love to see this as Khan's breakthrough book.
Many thanks to Oldcastle/No Exit Press for an ARC via NetGalley.
May 30, 2018
This is the fourth Inspector Esa Khatttak and Sergeant Rachel Getty mystery. Esa and Rachel are based in Ottawa but most of this novel takes place on the Greek islands close to Turkey, where tens of thousands of Syrian and other refugees await their fates, hoping for safe passage to Europe, Canada or anywhere but these islands. Esa and Rachel head their after the sister of Esa's best friend, Audrey, disappears. Audrey works for a NGO Women to Women, which helps relocate refugees to Canada.
The story of Syrian refugees is harrowing, and this novel portrays the horror of the "war" in Syria. Esa and Rachel are intriguing characters, as are the other people who populate the book. I had some difficulty at times keeping track of the characters, but usually was able to recall who was who. There is a deep backstory to Inspector Khattak and Sergeant Getty but this book gives minimal information. Instead it will lead many readers to go back to the beginning of the series and read them all.
The author Khan has a PhD in international law and her background provides the experience and knowledge of the context she writes about in this novel.
The story of Syrian refugees is harrowing, and this novel portrays the horror of the "war" in Syria. Esa and Rachel are intriguing characters, as are the other people who populate the book. I had some difficulty at times keeping track of the characters, but usually was able to recall who was who. There is a deep backstory to Inspector Khattak and Sergeant Getty but this book gives minimal information. Instead it will lead many readers to go back to the beginning of the series and read them all.
The author Khan has a PhD in international law and her background provides the experience and knowledge of the context she writes about in this novel.
March 10, 2018
A sensitive and emotionally gripping novel with our two Canadian detectives.
March 27, 2019
Another extremely informative action packed story that delves deeply into the fears and desperation of refugees and the circumstances that lead these vulnerable people to continue being pawns and victims of violence and crime while seeking refuge.
The fourth detective/crime book in this series (and the second I have read ) focuses on the Syrian crisis and the global shock waves and repercussions that are often poorly understood by people and countries distant to the immediacy of this conflict.
I listened to this as an audiobook however this media is not listed as an option on Goodreads.
March 23, 2018
This was fantastic.
Khan's series featuring Canadian investigators, Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak has continually featuring complex, and timely mysteries entrenched in current events. When you add in Khan beautiful and thoughtful writing, you have magic. Each book is dark and thought-provoking but there's also something soothing about Khan's writing style and how she often shows hope amidst harsh realities.
If you're a fan of Louise Penny, you have to pick up this series. While very different from Inspector Gamache and the village of Three Pines, fans of Penny will without a doubt enjoy Khan's thoughtful and considered approach to the investigative process.
Khan's series featuring Canadian investigators, Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak has continually featuring complex, and timely mysteries entrenched in current events. When you add in Khan beautiful and thoughtful writing, you have magic. Each book is dark and thought-provoking but there's also something soothing about Khan's writing style and how she often shows hope amidst harsh realities.
If you're a fan of Louise Penny, you have to pick up this series. While very different from Inspector Gamache and the village of Three Pines, fans of Penny will without a doubt enjoy Khan's thoughtful and considered approach to the investigative process.
September 5, 2019
In No Place of Refuge, the author bravely tackles the subject of refugees, mixing it with a touch of politics and a personal investigation to find a close friend who has vanished abroad, leaving two dead bodies behind her. Have no fear, you won’t drown in a report-like narrative, judgmental declarations, or ‘not-so-well’ hidden messages on every subject that makes this novel so rich. I picked this new installment in the series with excitement, knowing I would travel and learn about the world in a unique way. If you are sick of the news and looking for a current, captivating, and yes, entertaining read; look no further.
From Calais’s Jungle to Canada. From Greek camps to Turkey. I watch the news, I read the papers. I lived twenty minutes from Calais, and yet, all I know about the migrant crisis as we call it is what I am fed by the TV. I didn’t have the insight to look at things in a different way before I accompanied Rachel and Esa on their trip to find NGO boss and friend Audrey. Nothing felt real. Ausma Zehanat Khan takes pictures I get from the world, then she adds stories around them, she gives faces names, she enlightens us with the intricacies coming from all sides of the issues at hand. This is fiction used at its best. She doesn’t try to change your mind, she wants you to open it to all points of view and get a sense of reality that might escape us from where we stand.
With a case involving different jurisdictions and an issue everyone wants solved without getting hands dirty, Rachel and Esa find themselves in different kinds of danger. Audrey worked for an NGO, was on Greek territory, and the bodies of a French Interpol agent and a boy were found where she was last seen. See the puzzle? Let me tell you, no, you don’t!!! It takes the team their best tactics not to stomp on anyone’s toes while figuring out who to trust to make sense of the mystery ahead. The image that came to me when I was reading was a giant quicksand. A quicksand surrounded with blood, fear, and horrors.
No Place of Refuge is not an easy read. It challenged me, it made me think, it got me emotional on so many levels. Ausma Zehanat Khan has once again carved an outstanding piece, freezing our society in this time and place forever. Religion, friendships, untold horrors, gun. The author blew me away with her ability to assemble all the ingredients I needed to get the rush of a thriller while helping me understand our world better. Tension and tears were going hand by hand, my heart turned from broken to filled with rage, and my head became haunted by the thought-provoking truths laying bare in front of my eyes.
In the meantime, personal lives are not forgotten as both Rachel and Esa must face their feelings, deal with the emotions building from the case, and find ways to accept the new landscape of their life as time passes…
I said it before when reviewing previous novels from the series, but I need to mention it again. The research and knowledge poured into this book is of high standard. The details are so striking that it makes the novel even scarier, more real, and most of all, authentic.
No Place of Refuge is a bold novel committed to open eyes and take readers on a deadly race. Thank you, Ausma Zehanat Khan, for using your talent and work to create a new genre; the fiction which tugs at the seams of the veil of our world.
From Calais’s Jungle to Canada. From Greek camps to Turkey. I watch the news, I read the papers. I lived twenty minutes from Calais, and yet, all I know about the migrant crisis as we call it is what I am fed by the TV. I didn’t have the insight to look at things in a different way before I accompanied Rachel and Esa on their trip to find NGO boss and friend Audrey. Nothing felt real. Ausma Zehanat Khan takes pictures I get from the world, then she adds stories around them, she gives faces names, she enlightens us with the intricacies coming from all sides of the issues at hand. This is fiction used at its best. She doesn’t try to change your mind, she wants you to open it to all points of view and get a sense of reality that might escape us from where we stand.
With a case involving different jurisdictions and an issue everyone wants solved without getting hands dirty, Rachel and Esa find themselves in different kinds of danger. Audrey worked for an NGO, was on Greek territory, and the bodies of a French Interpol agent and a boy were found where she was last seen. See the puzzle? Let me tell you, no, you don’t!!! It takes the team their best tactics not to stomp on anyone’s toes while figuring out who to trust to make sense of the mystery ahead. The image that came to me when I was reading was a giant quicksand. A quicksand surrounded with blood, fear, and horrors.
No Place of Refuge is not an easy read. It challenged me, it made me think, it got me emotional on so many levels. Ausma Zehanat Khan has once again carved an outstanding piece, freezing our society in this time and place forever. Religion, friendships, untold horrors, gun. The author blew me away with her ability to assemble all the ingredients I needed to get the rush of a thriller while helping me understand our world better. Tension and tears were going hand by hand, my heart turned from broken to filled with rage, and my head became haunted by the thought-provoking truths laying bare in front of my eyes.
In the meantime, personal lives are not forgotten as both Rachel and Esa must face their feelings, deal with the emotions building from the case, and find ways to accept the new landscape of their life as time passes…
I said it before when reviewing previous novels from the series, but I need to mention it again. The research and knowledge poured into this book is of high standard. The details are so striking that it makes the novel even scarier, more real, and most of all, authentic.
No Place of Refuge is a bold novel committed to open eyes and take readers on a deadly race. Thank you, Ausma Zehanat Khan, for using your talent and work to create a new genre; the fiction which tugs at the seams of the veil of our world.
March 31, 2018
ausma zehanat khan holds a Ph.D. in international human rights law, with a research specialization in military intervention and war crimes in the balkans. in each of her novels in the getty & khattak series she brings her experiences into her stories. though the characters are based in toronto, their work, khan's mysteries, have taken readers into the painful history of ethnic cleansing in bosnia, examined radical islamists in toronto and northern ontario, and portrayed the lives of dissidents in iran. in this new story, getty & khattak travel to greece in search of a canadian NGO worker who has vanished from a syrian refugee camp - we are given a very up close experience of the syrian crisis in all its horrors.
as with her past novels in the series, there are heartbreaking moments, yet the astounding strength and perseverance of the human sprit shines through. i really enjoy khan's style of storytelling. in bringing such difficult subjects to life, she displays incredible kindness and sensitivity. her characters are flawed and evolving, and her settings are vividly brought to life. while the mysteries anchor each story, these books are as much about the characters as they are about solving crimes. i do feel a dangerous crossing wobbled a little bit with the esa and sehr storyline, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out. (i suggest reading the series in order as histories are built upon, and certain aspects carry forward from one book to the next.) i often feel that the character of esa khattak reminds me of louise penny's wonderful armand gamache. if you are a fan of the three pines series, i think you will enjoy the getty & khattak series too. (with one caveat: the supporting cast in khan's books aren't as large a presence, and are not as quirktastic as penny's.)
we often hear about the ability of fiction to improve empathy in readers and i feel like this is something khan takes seriously. khan includes informative afterwords in each of her books, which help ground her fiction in reality, and add depth to the reading experience - i always find these sections of her work fascinating and helpful.
as with her past novels in the series, there are heartbreaking moments, yet the astounding strength and perseverance of the human sprit shines through. i really enjoy khan's style of storytelling. in bringing such difficult subjects to life, she displays incredible kindness and sensitivity. her characters are flawed and evolving, and her settings are vividly brought to life. while the mysteries anchor each story, these books are as much about the characters as they are about solving crimes. i do feel a dangerous crossing wobbled a little bit with the esa and sehr storyline, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out. (i suggest reading the series in order as histories are built upon, and certain aspects carry forward from one book to the next.) i often feel that the character of esa khattak reminds me of louise penny's wonderful armand gamache. if you are a fan of the three pines series, i think you will enjoy the getty & khattak series too. (with one caveat: the supporting cast in khan's books aren't as large a presence, and are not as quirktastic as penny's.)
we often hear about the ability of fiction to improve empathy in readers and i feel like this is something khan takes seriously. khan includes informative afterwords in each of her books, which help ground her fiction in reality, and add depth to the reading experience - i always find these sections of her work fascinating and helpful.
September 15, 2019
like the previous novels this story is utterly gripping, highly relevant whilst being both entertaining and hugely thought provoking.
Detail and emotion abound, set against the backdrop of the Syrian refugees crisis, a murder and a missing aid worker draw Khattak and Getty into a very personal and difficult investigation…
The characters are sublimely formed and hugely relatable, the ongoing personal drama heightened and the current case extraordinarily compelling. I’m not sure where it’s going yet, but it is beautifully written and plotted, a page turner that has a lot to say about the current state of our world.
Detail and emotion abound, set against the backdrop of the Syrian refugees crisis, a murder and a missing aid worker draw Khattak and Getty into a very personal and difficult investigation…
The characters are sublimely formed and hugely relatable, the ongoing personal drama heightened and the current case extraordinarily compelling. I’m not sure where it’s going yet, but it is beautifully written and plotted, a page turner that has a lot to say about the current state of our world.
February 13, 2018
This is the fourth book in the series featuring Inspector Esa Khattak and Sgt. Rachel Getty. This time the two go to Greece to look for Audrey Clare, the sister of Esa’s friend Nathan Clare, who has gone missing while helping to resettle Syrian refugees. Two bodies were found in the offices of her NGO so did Audrey go into hiding in fear for her life or did she run after murdering two people or was she abducted?
The mystery of Audrey’s disappearance is sufficiently interesting, but it is not difficult to guess the ultimate outcome of the investigation. Often the ongoing humanitarian crisis takes the spotlight of the narrative. There is a great deal of information about Assad’s brutality against Syrians, the plight of the refugees, and the reaction and inaction of various countries to the crisis. There is no doubt that the author has done her research; a list of books and websites is recommended at the end. I recently read The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay, a book which recounts the year-long journey of a 12-year-old Afghani refugee; A Dangerous Crossing touches on many of the issues found in the non-fiction book. For example, Passarlay concludes that human smuggling has “a highly organized infrastructure” and Khan echoes with the statement that “The point is, all of this is a very big operation, a wellcoordinated operation.”
The problem is that the book is sometimes bogged down by lengthy passages of exposition that would be more appropriate in an essay: “Assad was engaged in a wholesale slaughter of his people. Set aside for the moment the destruction of Syria’s cities: their colleges, hospitals, and schools, their mosques and ancient souks. Even if that wasn’t totted up in a column of unthinkable loss, there was the question of Syria’s people. Syria had been a nation of twenty-two million. Fully half that population was displaced; seven million internally, while five million had fled Assad’s incalculable violence. The abject misery of Syria’s prison system needed to be weighed on a separate scale of horrors.”
Though this book can be read as a standalone, I would strongly recommend that it be read in the proper sequence. The relationships among the characters will be much better understood if the previous three books in the series have been read. All the investigations of these prior installments are mentioned. For instance, the Drayton inquiry is alluded to at least four times; that is the case in the first book, The Unquiet Dead. There are seven references to Algonquin, a setting which features prominently in the second book, The Language of Secrets. There are at least a dozen references to the case in Iran; this case is the focus of the third book, Among the Ruins. In A Dangerous Crossing, characters like Hassan and Laine are discussed with virtually no explanation; these references will mean nothing to readers who have not read the other novels.
And these personal relationships are important. They certainly get in the way in this investigation. Nathan doesn’t want Rachel to read some of his emails with Audrey, and Esa’s sister doesn’t want her brother to read her correspondence with Audrey. Readers who have not followed the series may be left mystified by Nathan and Ruksh’s reluctance. Actually, the lack of trust among several characters complicates the search for Audrey; this wariness is understandable in refugees but not so much in other investigators.
The many romantic tensions, most often the result of misunderstandings, are becoming tedious. How many times must Esa and Sehr misinterpret each other’s actions? How often does Rachel’s insecurity have to affect her relationship with Nathan? There are reasons why Rachel lacks confidence when it comes to romance, but after a while, her diffidence becomes annoying. We are to see her as a dynamic character who has learned from past experiences (“She couldn’t bear to be the reminder of someone’s tragedy again” and “To deny her importance to someone else wasn’t a pattern she intended to repeat”), but she still comes across as immature. Audrey describes her brother as a “Bumbling Lamb” but that descriptor could also apply to Rachel.
A Muslim police investigator as a protagonist is a welcome addition to the mystery/crime genre, and the character of Esa continues to provide insight into the tenets of Islam and the mind of a devout but moderate Muslim. He and Rachel are an odd partnership but their working relationship is based on mutual understanding, respect, and affection. I will continue to follow the series though I hope the romantic entanglements take a back seat. My bet is that the next case will see the return of Laine: Nathan says, “’There’s something wrong with Laine, something different about her. I have to admit I’m worried, I wish I could say otherwise.’ Esa had noticed it too . . . and he wondered if this was ground they were going to tread again.”
Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
The mystery of Audrey’s disappearance is sufficiently interesting, but it is not difficult to guess the ultimate outcome of the investigation. Often the ongoing humanitarian crisis takes the spotlight of the narrative. There is a great deal of information about Assad’s brutality against Syrians, the plight of the refugees, and the reaction and inaction of various countries to the crisis. There is no doubt that the author has done her research; a list of books and websites is recommended at the end. I recently read The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay, a book which recounts the year-long journey of a 12-year-old Afghani refugee; A Dangerous Crossing touches on many of the issues found in the non-fiction book. For example, Passarlay concludes that human smuggling has “a highly organized infrastructure” and Khan echoes with the statement that “The point is, all of this is a very big operation, a wellcoordinated operation.”
The problem is that the book is sometimes bogged down by lengthy passages of exposition that would be more appropriate in an essay: “Assad was engaged in a wholesale slaughter of his people. Set aside for the moment the destruction of Syria’s cities: their colleges, hospitals, and schools, their mosques and ancient souks. Even if that wasn’t totted up in a column of unthinkable loss, there was the question of Syria’s people. Syria had been a nation of twenty-two million. Fully half that population was displaced; seven million internally, while five million had fled Assad’s incalculable violence. The abject misery of Syria’s prison system needed to be weighed on a separate scale of horrors.”
Though this book can be read as a standalone, I would strongly recommend that it be read in the proper sequence. The relationships among the characters will be much better understood if the previous three books in the series have been read. All the investigations of these prior installments are mentioned. For instance, the Drayton inquiry is alluded to at least four times; that is the case in the first book, The Unquiet Dead. There are seven references to Algonquin, a setting which features prominently in the second book, The Language of Secrets. There are at least a dozen references to the case in Iran; this case is the focus of the third book, Among the Ruins. In A Dangerous Crossing, characters like Hassan and Laine are discussed with virtually no explanation; these references will mean nothing to readers who have not read the other novels.
And these personal relationships are important. They certainly get in the way in this investigation. Nathan doesn’t want Rachel to read some of his emails with Audrey, and Esa’s sister doesn’t want her brother to read her correspondence with Audrey. Readers who have not followed the series may be left mystified by Nathan and Ruksh’s reluctance. Actually, the lack of trust among several characters complicates the search for Audrey; this wariness is understandable in refugees but not so much in other investigators.
The many romantic tensions, most often the result of misunderstandings, are becoming tedious. How many times must Esa and Sehr misinterpret each other’s actions? How often does Rachel’s insecurity have to affect her relationship with Nathan? There are reasons why Rachel lacks confidence when it comes to romance, but after a while, her diffidence becomes annoying. We are to see her as a dynamic character who has learned from past experiences (“She couldn’t bear to be the reminder of someone’s tragedy again” and “To deny her importance to someone else wasn’t a pattern she intended to repeat”), but she still comes across as immature. Audrey describes her brother as a “Bumbling Lamb” but that descriptor could also apply to Rachel.
A Muslim police investigator as a protagonist is a welcome addition to the mystery/crime genre, and the character of Esa continues to provide insight into the tenets of Islam and the mind of a devout but moderate Muslim. He and Rachel are an odd partnership but their working relationship is based on mutual understanding, respect, and affection. I will continue to follow the series though I hope the romantic entanglements take a back seat. My bet is that the next case will see the return of Laine: Nathan says, “’There’s something wrong with Laine, something different about her. I have to admit I’m worried, I wish I could say otherwise.’ Esa had noticed it too . . . and he wondered if this was ground they were going to tread again.”
Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
April 18, 2023
Every one of Aisha Bb Khan’s Esa Khattak and Rachel Gettty books deal with a the outcomes of great injustices and violence, and how Canadian immigration or other policies and community policing in Ontario all intersect, usually through a threat or a dead body.
This time, it’s the Syrian refugee crisis, and Nathan Clare’s sister Audrey, head of an NGO working in Greece to fast-track refugees to Canada, disappears, allegedly having murdered an Interpol agent and Syrian refugee in the process.
Of course Esa and Rachel end up in Greece, with Nate, to make inquiries and hopefully find a still live Audrey. Over the course of their investigation, they learn many nauseating and dreadful things that the brutal Assad regime was doing to its own people, including bombings, mass incarcerations, torture and incalculable numbers of people murdered. Syrians fleeing in numbers from their homes were then exploited by smugglers and increasingly demonised by the people in European countries not eager to see the influx of desperate people.
There are many dreadful, nauseating things revealed about the state of the refugees, and what they were escaping in Syria and its brutal dictator Assad. And how the desperation of people fleeing brutality and torture, bombings are exploited by smugglers.
The case is complicated by red tape, some obstreperous behaviour from Greek authorities. Even while Esa and Rachel must disentangle messy statements and motives, their personal lives complicate the situation they're in, as Rachel pines after Nate, and Sehr and Esa fight over Esa's behaviour to her. Even with all that personal mess, Esa and Rachel are effective together, resolving their investigation.
The story was gripping, sad, and finally resolved a few story threads started in earlier books to make for a thoroughly compelling read.
This time, it’s the Syrian refugee crisis, and Nathan Clare’s sister Audrey, head of an NGO working in Greece to fast-track refugees to Canada, disappears, allegedly having murdered an Interpol agent and Syrian refugee in the process.
Of course Esa and Rachel end up in Greece, with Nate, to make inquiries and hopefully find a still live Audrey. Over the course of their investigation, they learn many nauseating and dreadful things that the brutal Assad regime was doing to its own people, including bombings, mass incarcerations, torture and incalculable numbers of people murdered. Syrians fleeing in numbers from their homes were then exploited by smugglers and increasingly demonised by the people in European countries not eager to see the influx of desperate people.
There are many dreadful, nauseating things revealed about the state of the refugees, and what they were escaping in Syria and its brutal dictator Assad. And how the desperation of people fleeing brutality and torture, bombings are exploited by smugglers.
The case is complicated by red tape, some obstreperous behaviour from Greek authorities. Even while Esa and Rachel must disentangle messy statements and motives, their personal lives complicate the situation they're in, as Rachel pines after Nate, and Sehr and Esa fight over Esa's behaviour to her. Even with all that personal mess, Esa and Rachel are effective together, resolving their investigation.
The story was gripping, sad, and finally resolved a few story threads started in earlier books to make for a thoroughly compelling read.
December 30, 2017
I loved this book. I read Dangerous Crossing in preparation for a panel Ausma Zehanat Khan is going to be on about Writing as Activism at the Colorado Book Festival, and was so impressed. I'm not much of a mystery reader, but if more were as beautiful, and real, and poignant as this one, I would be. Khan's descriptions are graceful and gentle, while deeply revealing like no one else I've read. Her depth of knowledge about the Syrian refugee crisis revealed a more full picture than any other medium. And her characters and plot are intriguing, entertaining and believable. I could not put Dangerous Crossing down, and am excited to go back and read the rest of the series (this is book 4). This is one of those books that makes you a better person, and I feel blessed for it having come into my life. I feel like I've found a new type of literature that I didn't know existed!
July 26, 2019
No Place of Refuge is the fourth novel to feature Canadian detectives Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty of the RCMP’s Community Police.
When NGO worker Audrey Clare disappears from the Greek island of Lesvos her powerful brother, Nathan, is worried, not least because two dead bodies were found in her tent. Asa Khattak and Rachel Getty are sent to Lesvos to investigate.
I can’t say that I enjoyed No Place of Refuge, simply because it is a difficult, harrowing read. I read fiction for entertainment and this is far from entertaining with its graphic descriptions of torture in Syria and the difficulties refugees face during and after their escape. It is informative and draws attention to a crisis which has unfairly slipped from prominence but light reading it ain’t.
Subject matter aside the novel is well written with several twists and a steady stream of reveals. This is the first novel in the series that I have read so I did feel the lack of knowledge of the characters’ backstories. There are summaries along the way but as most of the characters are uneasy in their interactions with the others I feel that I missed the nuances. There is a romance in the novel but it seems out of place given the subject matter and I have no understanding of their qualms and misunderstandings, it all seemed a bit first world to me amid such suffering.
I have awarded this novel 4* because of the light it throws on the Syrian refugee situation. It is a hard, difficult read but I’m glad I took it on.
When NGO worker Audrey Clare disappears from the Greek island of Lesvos her powerful brother, Nathan, is worried, not least because two dead bodies were found in her tent. Asa Khattak and Rachel Getty are sent to Lesvos to investigate.
I can’t say that I enjoyed No Place of Refuge, simply because it is a difficult, harrowing read. I read fiction for entertainment and this is far from entertaining with its graphic descriptions of torture in Syria and the difficulties refugees face during and after their escape. It is informative and draws attention to a crisis which has unfairly slipped from prominence but light reading it ain’t.
Subject matter aside the novel is well written with several twists and a steady stream of reveals. This is the first novel in the series that I have read so I did feel the lack of knowledge of the characters’ backstories. There are summaries along the way but as most of the characters are uneasy in their interactions with the others I feel that I missed the nuances. There is a romance in the novel but it seems out of place given the subject matter and I have no understanding of their qualms and misunderstandings, it all seemed a bit first world to me amid such suffering.
I have awarded this novel 4* because of the light it throws on the Syrian refugee situation. It is a hard, difficult read but I’m glad I took it on.
March 12, 2021
A very relevant and sad topic,a good plot idea,ruined by constant repetition and silly romance.MCs not engaging.
September 12, 2019
Reviewing under the title of 'No Place Of Refuge'
This is a issue laden book which is, however, not issue laden. The characters and the plot serve a greater purpose in highlighting the plight of Syrian refugees, who are not just fleeing persection, threat of death and abuse, the are being thrown into a global spotlight. From the very word used to describe them, 'Migrant' instead of refugee, it creates a public perception of someone who chose to move from their homelands. In dismantling the very descrtiptor of those fleeing wartorn Syria, it makes it more palatable to hate and deny, to categorise them as 'other' instead of welcoming them and sharing what we countries take for granted.
It is said that the greatest show of humanity is evident in the way that the most vulnerable are treated, and as these individuals, and families are argued over as political pawns, there are sharks circling, looking to take advantage.
In this, the latest Khattak and Getty investigation, political and public dignitaries clash, legal and professionbal standards are bent beyond repair as the duo travel to Greece at the request of Nate Clare. His sister, a NGO(non-governmental organisation) representative named Audrey has been dispatched to Greece to oversee the running of Woman to Woman, a refugee organisation. It is currently being run by an ex-refugee named Shukri Danner. Her role is to oversee the facillitation of female refugees to Canada and track down relatives who might be prepared to take them in.
However, Audrey has gone missing, leaving behind two corpses-an French Interpol agent named Aude Bertin and a refugee named Sami Al-Nuri. Both have been shot with Audrey's pistol which leaves so many questions to answer.
How did Audrey get a gun into Greece and why did she have one?
Did she kill either of the people and if she didn't,who did?
Is this an attempt to undermine the Canadian refugee programme for resettlement, a contentious issue and incredibly volatile given the US treatment of these people at their point of need juxtaposed with the Canadian welcome comittee.
Or is it removing Audrey to undermine and hamstring the Woman To Woman operation, which has been so successful in helping to fast track female refugees?
It is a sinister and twisting plot that I really enjoyed reading as I found out a lot about the refugee experience in Europe, understood a little more about the origins of the Syrian conflict, the Arab Spring as well as the policis on who accepts these people and how they support them.#
Moving, tautly plotted with an engaging mystery running parrallel to the social and cultural themes, 'No Place Of Refuge' to me, represents the plight of refugees and a committment to finding the truth. With Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak on the case, lies will be dragged into daylight from their shadowy haunts as the truth will out. Humanity and inhumanity alike are exposed in this exhaustive investigation far from their normal patch in Canada. Both have valuable insights which are informed by, but are not dependant on, their personal lives and loves.
Dogged, determined and able to put aside familial obligations , Rachel and Esa hit the ground running as they set out to uncover who, and what, is preying on the camps in Greece.
I have included the recommended reading that Ausma has added in her author notes at the foot of the blogpost as I feel they are necessary and important, whilst distressing and awful, they illustrate why we need, as a society, to keep fighting for the rights of those without them.
I found it thoroughly engaging and am so happy to have the first 2 books in the series to look forward to on my bookshelves-I didn't feel it was necessary to have read them to read this, but I am so intrigued about the back stories of the main characters that I want to return to the start.
Highly recommended, literary crime thrillers don't come much better than this.
This is a issue laden book which is, however, not issue laden. The characters and the plot serve a greater purpose in highlighting the plight of Syrian refugees, who are not just fleeing persection, threat of death and abuse, the are being thrown into a global spotlight. From the very word used to describe them, 'Migrant' instead of refugee, it creates a public perception of someone who chose to move from their homelands. In dismantling the very descrtiptor of those fleeing wartorn Syria, it makes it more palatable to hate and deny, to categorise them as 'other' instead of welcoming them and sharing what we countries take for granted.
It is said that the greatest show of humanity is evident in the way that the most vulnerable are treated, and as these individuals, and families are argued over as political pawns, there are sharks circling, looking to take advantage.
In this, the latest Khattak and Getty investigation, political and public dignitaries clash, legal and professionbal standards are bent beyond repair as the duo travel to Greece at the request of Nate Clare. His sister, a NGO(non-governmental organisation) representative named Audrey has been dispatched to Greece to oversee the running of Woman to Woman, a refugee organisation. It is currently being run by an ex-refugee named Shukri Danner. Her role is to oversee the facillitation of female refugees to Canada and track down relatives who might be prepared to take them in.
However, Audrey has gone missing, leaving behind two corpses-an French Interpol agent named Aude Bertin and a refugee named Sami Al-Nuri. Both have been shot with Audrey's pistol which leaves so many questions to answer.
How did Audrey get a gun into Greece and why did she have one?
Did she kill either of the people and if she didn't,who did?
Is this an attempt to undermine the Canadian refugee programme for resettlement, a contentious issue and incredibly volatile given the US treatment of these people at their point of need juxtaposed with the Canadian welcome comittee.
Or is it removing Audrey to undermine and hamstring the Woman To Woman operation, which has been so successful in helping to fast track female refugees?
It is a sinister and twisting plot that I really enjoyed reading as I found out a lot about the refugee experience in Europe, understood a little more about the origins of the Syrian conflict, the Arab Spring as well as the policis on who accepts these people and how they support them.#
Moving, tautly plotted with an engaging mystery running parrallel to the social and cultural themes, 'No Place Of Refuge' to me, represents the plight of refugees and a committment to finding the truth. With Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak on the case, lies will be dragged into daylight from their shadowy haunts as the truth will out. Humanity and inhumanity alike are exposed in this exhaustive investigation far from their normal patch in Canada. Both have valuable insights which are informed by, but are not dependant on, their personal lives and loves.
Dogged, determined and able to put aside familial obligations , Rachel and Esa hit the ground running as they set out to uncover who, and what, is preying on the camps in Greece.
I have included the recommended reading that Ausma has added in her author notes at the foot of the blogpost as I feel they are necessary and important, whilst distressing and awful, they illustrate why we need, as a society, to keep fighting for the rights of those without them.
I found it thoroughly engaging and am so happy to have the first 2 books in the series to look forward to on my bookshelves-I didn't feel it was necessary to have read them to read this, but I am so intrigued about the back stories of the main characters that I want to return to the start.
Highly recommended, literary crime thrillers don't come much better than this.
February 20, 2018
I'm still enjoying the series, but it's getting further away from being the police procedural that it started out as. Getty and Khattak are interesting characters, and I'm still really enjoying the fact that each new book focuses on cultural and political issues in a different Muslim community, but they're not really functioning like Canadian police officers as much anymore. And that's a shame because part of what I enjoyed about the books when they started was the way the series highlighted the multiculturalism of Canada and how different communities were embraced there.
Still a worthwhile read, but I'm hoping that future books get back to local (or even national) policing and step back a bit from the international adventures.
Still a worthwhile read, but I'm hoping that future books get back to local (or even national) policing and step back a bit from the international adventures.
February 24, 2018
This is the fourth full length novel in Khan’s Esa Khattak & Rachel Getty mystery series, and quite possibly the best. It certainly is the most heartbreaking. Like her previous novels, the mystery is set against a backdrop of a humanitarian crisis. The Unquiet Dead dealt with the aftermath of the Srebrenica massacre, The Language of Secret with stopping a terror attack on Canadian soil, Among the Ruins discusses the Iranian regime and their torture of political dissidents, and this book brings the Syrian crisis into full view. It is devastating.
It is difficult for me to separate feelings about the book from feelings about the events in Syria and the plight of the Syrian people, both as refugees fleeing their homeland and those left behind. Khan has a PhD in International Human Rights Law and you can tell this is something she cares about deeply. Her characters care deeply and as a reader, you can’t help but care, too.
We’re given more insight into the main characters, their personal lives, including budding romance, but at no point does it overwhelm the greater narrative. As always, there are multiple layers of complexity to the story and nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface. I love that. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say have a box of tissues with you while you read, but know that even in the darkness, there is light, and be prepared to be angry enough to need to take action. Find the helpers, as believe Mr. Rogers said, and join them. That’s my plan.
It is difficult for me to separate feelings about the book from feelings about the events in Syria and the plight of the Syrian people, both as refugees fleeing their homeland and those left behind. Khan has a PhD in International Human Rights Law and you can tell this is something she cares about deeply. Her characters care deeply and as a reader, you can’t help but care, too.
We’re given more insight into the main characters, their personal lives, including budding romance, but at no point does it overwhelm the greater narrative. As always, there are multiple layers of complexity to the story and nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface. I love that. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say have a box of tissues with you while you read, but know that even in the darkness, there is light, and be prepared to be angry enough to need to take action. Find the helpers, as believe Mr. Rogers said, and join them. That’s my plan.
February 15, 2018
I’m a big fan of this series for a bunch of reasons, but the biggest is that I get to travel the world while learning about important social issues. Khan has once again written a smart and thoughtful detective mystery which creates a bunch of characters in a way that steers far away from creating stereotypes or monoliths. Canadian detectives Getty and Esa find themselves looking into the disappearance of a friend’s sister who vanished while helping Syrian refugees in Greece. Being that there are two dead bodies the immediate questions are: Is she a murderer on the run? Hiding from danger? Or also dead?… If you’re debating the audiobook Peter Ganim does a lovely job and gives you proper pronunciation with some words you may not know.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
July 15, 2023
This series has great mysteries as part of the stories, but it is also so much more, and with every one of the books so far I have felt I learned a lot. This time the author takes her two detectives from Canada to Greece, then to Turkey and The Netherlands. The story is centered around the crisis occurring in some of these countries, and in the lives of millions of Syrians, who are being forced to flee their homeland and take refuge is counties around the globe. The mystery and how the lives of Rachel and Esa are affected by all they encounter made this an engrossing tale, but the plight of the refugees is heartbreaking, and was also eye-opening for me. The author adds notes at the end that tell more about what is happening, her research, and how the reader can seek further knowledge.
May 11, 2021
This series is always super solid for me. Khan has the knowledge and the craft to put very complex relationship and cultural frameworks into an enjoyable and well paced thriller. What’s more is that they are also very accessible to the average reader too.
If you aren’t familiar with the series, this is based in Canada, centered on a fictional division of the Toronto police department (I believe? It might be a provincial thing) that is called Community Policing. Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak head this division. They’re partners and they plot always centres on them, though there are returning side characters with plot interactions and complex, overarching B plots that are in there and handled well. Particularly in this book, a few of those really come to a head and it’s really satisfying to see those threads in play.
Esa is a Muslim man who is in a leadership position and has the credentials to pioneer this pilot program. Which, just in of itself is interesting, a subversion of genre elements, and a good idea that police might want to actually damn well do. He knows how to interact with immigrants and people of different backgrounds and has the necessary life experience to communicate effectively. Another groundbreaking subversion of Esa is that he is flawed but not in the traditional Muslim portrayal. He is kind, generous, easily taken advantage sometimes; just soft and considerate and not in the least a stereotype. Also he is always portrayed as a viable and desirable person in general. He is a extremely good looking person and that doesn’t happen much in our media. It’s also subversive. He is great! He still makes mistakes and his past causes him to react in ways he doesn’t fully understand, he’s got complex dynamics with every relationship established.
Rachel is similarly dogged with a traumatic past and is sort of the training wheels officer attached to Esa. She is somewhat subversive herself. She’s athletic and behaves like an athlete in all scenes. She eats a lot and often. She is also thoughtful and considerate and a bit of a doormat, so her and Esa have a similar blind spot, which I just like a lot because generally writers go for very different flaws; partners are polarizing individuals most of the time. Fire and water, oil and water, shit like that. Not so here, and again, it’s refreshing.
They’re fallible and interesting. And then the actual plot is well constructed and compelling in of itself. But there is always an additional layer of different political and cultural things going on. In this one, it’s the Syrian refugee crisis. Throughout the story you also learn about what that is through numerous POVs and dispels common misconceptions about it that Canadians have. It humanizes foreign elements to most people. It is so smart and well done.
Then, at the end of it, there is always the authors notes on the particular thing she talked about in that book AND suggested reading!
The only reason this isn’t a 5 star for me is that in her quest to be accessible, her first person narration, and dialogue in particular, tends to be natural—but overwritten. It can be a bit hold your hand in a expository way with the relationships in a way it doesn’t need to be. She both shows and tells quite often. It does hamper enjoyment and drags scenes sometimes.
And I feel a bit bad about it hurting my enjoyment somewhat even because I can see what she is doing: Some people probably will need the extra help in the character interactions and Khan likes to make every nuance of what’s happened between characters extremely clear. I feel like she infers it strongly enough that it’s not needed. But I could see her publisher even maybe insisting on this kind of overwriting to be honest, if only because there is such heavy subject matter and the handling of immigrant stories and, essentially putting a human interest piece in with the plot. I don’t know; that’s just my guess.
Anyway. You should be reading this series. We don’t often get A) Canadian police procedural thrillers from the lens of someone so (over) qualified to write them, and B) they’re subversive, well constructed, and legitimately informative reads.
If you aren’t familiar with the series, this is based in Canada, centered on a fictional division of the Toronto police department (I believe? It might be a provincial thing) that is called Community Policing. Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak head this division. They’re partners and they plot always centres on them, though there are returning side characters with plot interactions and complex, overarching B plots that are in there and handled well. Particularly in this book, a few of those really come to a head and it’s really satisfying to see those threads in play.
Esa is a Muslim man who is in a leadership position and has the credentials to pioneer this pilot program. Which, just in of itself is interesting, a subversion of genre elements, and a good idea that police might want to actually damn well do. He knows how to interact with immigrants and people of different backgrounds and has the necessary life experience to communicate effectively. Another groundbreaking subversion of Esa is that he is flawed but not in the traditional Muslim portrayal. He is kind, generous, easily taken advantage sometimes; just soft and considerate and not in the least a stereotype. Also he is always portrayed as a viable and desirable person in general. He is a extremely good looking person and that doesn’t happen much in our media. It’s also subversive. He is great! He still makes mistakes and his past causes him to react in ways he doesn’t fully understand, he’s got complex dynamics with every relationship established.
Rachel is similarly dogged with a traumatic past and is sort of the training wheels officer attached to Esa. She is somewhat subversive herself. She’s athletic and behaves like an athlete in all scenes. She eats a lot and often. She is also thoughtful and considerate and a bit of a doormat, so her and Esa have a similar blind spot, which I just like a lot because generally writers go for very different flaws; partners are polarizing individuals most of the time. Fire and water, oil and water, shit like that. Not so here, and again, it’s refreshing.
They’re fallible and interesting. And then the actual plot is well constructed and compelling in of itself. But there is always an additional layer of different political and cultural things going on. In this one, it’s the Syrian refugee crisis. Throughout the story you also learn about what that is through numerous POVs and dispels common misconceptions about it that Canadians have. It humanizes foreign elements to most people. It is so smart and well done.
Then, at the end of it, there is always the authors notes on the particular thing she talked about in that book AND suggested reading!
The only reason this isn’t a 5 star for me is that in her quest to be accessible, her first person narration, and dialogue in particular, tends to be natural—but overwritten. It can be a bit hold your hand in a expository way with the relationships in a way it doesn’t need to be. She both shows and tells quite often. It does hamper enjoyment and drags scenes sometimes.
And I feel a bit bad about it hurting my enjoyment somewhat even because I can see what she is doing: Some people probably will need the extra help in the character interactions and Khan likes to make every nuance of what’s happened between characters extremely clear. I feel like she infers it strongly enough that it’s not needed. But I could see her publisher even maybe insisting on this kind of overwriting to be honest, if only because there is such heavy subject matter and the handling of immigrant stories and, essentially putting a human interest piece in with the plot. I don’t know; that’s just my guess.
Anyway. You should be reading this series. We don’t often get A) Canadian police procedural thrillers from the lens of someone so (over) qualified to write them, and B) they’re subversive, well constructed, and legitimately informative reads.
November 26, 2018
I can't say enough about this superb book, the fourth in Khan's excellent mystery series. Khan is a Canadian human rights lawyer and her international human rights background informs all her books.
Her detective, Esa Khattak, is a middle-aged man of Pashtun background who was born in Pakistan but is a Canadian citizen and head of Community Policing with the government. That means that most of his work involves Muslims--primarily crimes against Muslims. Khattak is devout but modern. His assistant, Rachel Getty, is Jewish, and a strong character in her own right with a difficult history. They've formed a bond as working partners. I had been wondering whether they would become involved romantically, but this book suggests that's not going to happen.
The dangerous crossing in this book is the crossing from Turkey to Lesbos. The plight of Syrians under Assad is the main story. His brutality is almost unlimited, as it would have to be to drive half of his people out of their homes and at least a quarter of them to leave their country. Smugglers' exploitation of the desperate refugees is also presented in far more details than I have seen elsewhere. One of the saddest episodes in the book shows Khattak trying to interview Syrian refugees living in Canada. They are terrified because they assume that police everywhere are like those in Syria. Nothing he can say reassures them.
In addition to having a gripping plot, this book is filled with information. It's painful. It should be painful. But the author draws characters so well that it's compelling reading. I recommend it highly.
Her detective, Esa Khattak, is a middle-aged man of Pashtun background who was born in Pakistan but is a Canadian citizen and head of Community Policing with the government. That means that most of his work involves Muslims--primarily crimes against Muslims. Khattak is devout but modern. His assistant, Rachel Getty, is Jewish, and a strong character in her own right with a difficult history. They've formed a bond as working partners. I had been wondering whether they would become involved romantically, but this book suggests that's not going to happen.
The dangerous crossing in this book is the crossing from Turkey to Lesbos. The plight of Syrians under Assad is the main story. His brutality is almost unlimited, as it would have to be to drive half of his people out of their homes and at least a quarter of them to leave their country. Smugglers' exploitation of the desperate refugees is also presented in far more details than I have seen elsewhere. One of the saddest episodes in the book shows Khattak trying to interview Syrian refugees living in Canada. They are terrified because they assume that police everywhere are like those in Syria. Nothing he can say reassures them.
In addition to having a gripping plot, this book is filled with information. It's painful. It should be painful. But the author draws characters so well that it's compelling reading. I recommend it highly.
May 6, 2018
Another fantastic installment of the Inspector Khattak and Sergeant Getty series. This time Ms.Khan has taken on another humanitarian crisis, an extremely current topic, the Syrian refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Her background in the field keeps the story genuine. She also brings back the supporting characters, the wealthy businessman and friend of Esa, Nathan Clare, his sister Audrey and Sehr Gilzai the lawyer and best friend of Esa's deceased wife. I appreciate the way the author keeps the tension going between Esa and Sehr and Nathan and Rachel with regard to their possible romantic relationships. I have really seen these characters grow over the course of the series. Ms. Khan keeps her characters personalities true and it shows. I strongly suggest you have tissues on hand, because the plight of the refugees is heartbreakingly true and brought to life by the vividly drawn characters. You really feel how they care for the work they are doing. As much as I thought I knew what was going on with the Syrian refugees and the migrants in the region, I realized that there is much more tragedy and sadness than we could ever imagine. The story provides a taut mystery, plenty of fast action, but you will also get a bit of the history of the region and a genuine look at a crisis happening right now. Thank you to the author and Minotaur books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
February 2, 2019
Ausma Zehanat Khan turns a clear magnifying lens on searing, painful facts about the war in Syria. This book was not easy for me to read but it was impossible to put down. Ausma Zehanat Khan brings to our awareness the intimate struggle of individual refugees within a context of intractable global forces. She peoples her book with NGOs and volunteers who are ill equipped to serve thousands of refugees who have miraculously survived the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece on the Aegean Sea. Those who escape drowning are kept in a cold purgatory of filthy camps, languishing in starvation and despair. The whole book is an anthem praising the courage and fortitude of human beings who serve and survive against all odds. The unimaginable magnitude of the problem overwhelms the resources of local and international agencies of goodwill. Refugees are further victimized by exploitation of organized crime, resentment of local residents, racial and religious hatred and violence.
Next time you hear frightened, angry people chanting "build a wall", remember the plight of these destitute children, women and men whose homes have been destroyed by war and famine and whose lives are threatened every hour of every day. Love embraces all. Let us open our arms and welcome them home.
Next time you hear frightened, angry people chanting "build a wall", remember the plight of these destitute children, women and men whose homes have been destroyed by war and famine and whose lives are threatened every hour of every day. Love embraces all. Let us open our arms and welcome them home.
June 28, 2018
Khan takes today's headlines and weaves them into intriguing mysteries. In this case, the issues are the crisis of refugees/migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Greece, and the Syrian war, issues unfortunately as relevant today as when the story takes place in 2016. Esa and Rachel are called in to investigate the disappearance of Nathan Clare's sister. A well-plotted mystery with twists and turns. My only complaints - at times, background information about the crises overrides the story, and the descriptions of the main character's romantic interests sometimes slip into Bollywood-style melodrama. Still, this is highly recommended.
Review based on an ARC from Netgalley.
Review based on an ARC from Netgalley.
April 10, 2018
I received this book in a goodreads giveaway. The story was intriguing but more importantly I found this book a real learning experience. I learned so much about the war in syria, and the refugee crisis. I listen to the news and I read but still there was so much that I did not know. This book really helped me to understand the situation more fully. I also learned a lot about the International Criminal Court. I consider this an important read. Highly recommend.
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